Across Time and Space
by DarkReyna16
Summary: Sans is definitely used to disappointment by now. No matter what pattern begins to develop, he always knows how his life will play out, one way or another. But it becomes harder to predict when an unexpected anomaly gets thrown into the mix, an anomaly that could unravel everything Sans has ever known to be true, and remake it into something tragic...or something wonderful. Sans/OC
1. Chapter One: Heiress

At first glance, time travel sounds like a great idea. Visit whatever time, whenever you want. Yeah, sounds great.

Sans thought so, too. He remembered being one of the first to sign up, to test the machine on its maiden voyage.

Looking back now, he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when everything began to go wrong. He didn't like to think about it. He didn't want to remember.

But, sadly, that's part of the curse of being a time traveler. You have to remember.

Every.

Single.

Thing.

Though he wasn't cold, Sans shivered in the winter wind. It had been three years, and yet, he still wasn't used to being on the surface, seeing the sky, the giant, glowing orb the humans called the moon. It looked so different, somehow, than the last time he was here.

Frisk was getting bigger. They were nearing their thirteenth birthday now, and excited that they'd finally begun to surpass Sans' height. This amused Sans, though, for some reason, it made him feel strangely lonely as well. Even though it had been three years, he continued to watch Frisk closely, waiting for the moment when the kid would unexpectedly snap. If Frisk helped Toriel in the kitchen, Sans made sure he was there, making sure Frisk didn't handle anything sharp so they didn't hurt themselves…or others.

Sans stared up at the moon, brooding over his most recent conversation with Toriel, after she had put Frisk to bed:

"Sans, I think we need to talk."

"Sure, Tori. What's up?"

"It's about Frisk. …Do you really feel it is necessary to hover over them the way you do?"

"Whatddya mean?"

"I think you know, Sans. I do not know why you feel you cannot trust Frisk, but they have done nothing to prove that they are anything but an innocent child, have they not?"

"So far? I guess not."

Toriel hadn't liked that. She had wished Sans a rather frosty goodnight afterwards, and Sans, not ready to go home to an empty house (he and Undyne were still carrying on with their cooking lessons), had taken to wandering the forest they now inhabited.

Integrating with the human world had been…difficult. Even now, the monsters still kept mostly to themselves, for fear of being driven underground once more by terrified humans. Some, like Toriel and Papyrus, kept trying, and were eventually accepted by some humans. Toriel taught a small class of them at their local school, and Papyrus loved to run around letting everyone try his inedible spaghetti…but most humans were still keeping their distance. Sans didn't particularly mind—it meant he had less to worry about.

Still, it was a little boring that he saw no difference in between the life he lived underground to the life he lived now, save that there were often balls of light in the sky, their brightness dependent on what time it was. Nothing much had changed…and Sans was still waiting for the day that it would all just disappear, be rewritten, as if the trials and suffering they'd gone through meant nothing at all. Everyone would just resume the struggle of trying to get to the surface—or worse—the struggle to stay alive. The pattern had no rhyme or reason, really—sometimes Frisk was a good kid, but other times…

Other times, Sans didn't want to think about it. Remembering how it felt to die was awful. Remembering how it felt to kill was even worse.

Sans paused. He'd gotten used to the crunching of snow under his feet, but it sounded different now. He looked down, surprised to find that there were already footsteps here. Odd…no one else bothered to venture out here. The other monsters that lived near here had better things to do, and the humans that knew the monsters were here didn't dare to stray too close. It was very rare to get a straggler…

But Sans shrugged. The footprints might be human-shaped, but it wasn't his business if there was a human bumbling around up here. As long as they didn't hurt anyone, Sans didn't have to get involved. He almost moved on, but something else out of place caught his attention—a couple drops of a deep red liquid seeped into the snow.

Sans leaned over to inspect it, but there was no need. He knew exactly what it was: blood.

With a short sigh, the skeleton stood up straight. Welp, if he didn't find it, someone else would. And someone else might not be as nice as him. And so Sans set off, following the footsteps and occasional drops of blood. He thought of it as an adventure, a scavenger hunt of sorts. And the blood spatters were his clues. It was unclear at this point whether he'd find a live human or a dead human—there wasn't enough blood so far to add up to a dead human, but the more he saw it, the larger the likeliness of a dead human grew.

Sans wondered what he'd do if he found a dead human. Admittedly, his choices were limited—if the human was dead, he couldn't bring it back to the humans, because they'd think he did it. But if he left the dead human there, it would start to smell, and someone else would find it and bring it to the human's attention anyway. Either way, it was a bother, and Sans began to question his choice to go looking for it. It wasn't like he didn't have better things to do, you know. He could be hanging out at Grillbyz's new restaurant, or continue his brooding from earlier. Just because something slightly out of the ordinary had happened didn't mean he had to go chasing after it like a dog after a thrown bone—

Sans stopped. He had arrived at a nearby river, and next to the river…was a body. It was a tall body, with a tangle of dark hair sprouting from its head. A pale hand was splayed in the snow…next to another spatter of blood.

' _Aw, hell._ ' So it _was_ dead. That was fun. Sans almost turned around and left the body to its fate—he doubted very much the soul that previously inhabited the body would care if said body got eaten by bears or something, since the body was no longer in use—but something made him get closer. Maybe he just had a morbid sense of curiosity, but he wanted to see the face of the dead human. After all, he only saw most of them from a distance, and he wondered if this human had a face like Frisk's.

For being dead, the body sure was heavy. Sans slipped in the snow a couple times trying to turn it over. When he finally managed to get the body on its back, he squatted next to it, put out. He was getting too old for this.

The face on the dead human was a little like Frisk's, in that it had eyelids, presumably eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Other than that, it was a stranger's face. The skin was nearly as pale as the snow around it; the body might've blended right in, if it didn't have dark hair and clothes. Its cheeks were thinner than Frisk's, so thin that it looked unhealthy. Sans could almost see the bone poking through the skin. Well, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, Sans supposed—he never really got why humans had their skeletons trapped inside meat bags, anyway.

He poked the dead body's cheek experimentally, wondering if the skin would give way.

The dead body's face frowned.

Sans stared.

He poked the cheek again. This time, the body grunted, and the eyelids fluttered open.

Sans wasn't sure whether it was the moonlight or not, but whatever it was, the human's eyes looked silver. He would've believed them to be the eyes of a dead person, if the human hadn't opened them on their own.

The human blinked a couple times. It seemed to have trouble breathing—their breaths were sharp and ragged, their chest rising and falling rapidly. The eyes searched around, rolling until they landed on Sans.

Belatedly, Sans wondered if this human would scream. A couple of them did the first time they saw Papyrus. Sans wasn't much easier to look at.

The human did not scream. It stared at Sans, and Sans stared back. Another belated thought—was he grinning a creepy way right now? Ah well, couldn't be helped. He didn't have any lips, after all.

The human didn't seem like it would speak anytime soon. Sans wondered if it could. Or did it just prefer to sign, like Frisk? How should he know? Humans were weird.

Sans decided to try to initiate conversation.

"So. You're alive. That's cool." He grinned. "Or maybe it's…ice cold?"

The human didn't laugh. It was officially ruled as a boring human.

Its lips were trembling. Sans could only make out something that sounded like 'breath'.

"Didn't catch that. You'll have to speak up, since I don't have ears."

The human's lips twitched again. Sans leaned down further to hear better, and this time he caught the question:

"…Are you…Death…?"

' _In this timeline? I hope not._ '

"Why? Got a date with him?" Sans asked with another grin. The human's breath hitched in a strange way. Sans thought it might be laughing, but it started coughing instead. The human turned onto their side, their body convulsing violently. Red splattered the snow, staining the human's lips as well.

Sans stopped grinning. No matter how much death he'd witnessed, it never got any easier to see it. He didn't want to watch this human die.

Before he could stand up and make his escape, the coughing stopped. The human sighed, and began to push itself up. Sans stared, impressed. Maybe this human was more hardy than he thought.

"C-cold…" the human protested, and Sans was inevitably reminded of Frisk, who used to crawl into Sans's hoodie whenever they were walking anywhere in cold temperatures. He touched the zipper of his hoodie, lost in memories, when the human beside him swayed dangerously. Snapping out of his own head, Sans automatically reached over, his arms steadying the dizzy human.

"Whoa, take it easy. No need to have a swooning fit over me, human," Sans joked with a wink, while he inspected the human. They didn't look so good—if anything, they were getting paler by the second. Even if they might be on the brink of death, it wasn't a good idea for them to stay here. "Come on. I know a place nearby where you'll be safe. What's your name, human?"

The human started mumbling again, so even with how close he was, Sans couldn't be sure he heard what he heard.

"'Heiress'? You mean, like a princess?"

He got no response. The human's eyes closed, and they became still. The only way Sans could tell that they weren't dead was the rise and fall of their chest, and he sighed. Looked like he had no other choice.

"C'mon, your Majesty," he said softly, hoisting the human's body over his shoulder. It was difficult for Sans to carry the human—it was too tall, so with every step he took, he had to make sure the human's head wasn't hitting the ground, or their toes dragging in the snow. It was a long and arduous journey, and every step of the way, Sans was cursing himself for taking on such an impossible task. It wasn't like the human was his responsibility. Why did he care whether it lived or died?

Later, when he looked back on this moment, Sans would chalk it up to his intuition. He had to have known, somewhere deep down, that this human would change his life. After all, he was a time traveler. He knew everything.


	2. Chapter Two: Monsters

"But where did the human come from?"

"I dunno."

"What was the human doing out here all by their lonesome?"

"I dunno."

"Is the human going to be all right?"

"I dunno."

"SANS!" Papyrus eventually yelled in frustration, his teeth clacking together in irritation, "don't you know _anything?!_ "

Sans thought for a moment. "…Your spaghetti is the greatest, bro."

"EVEN I KNEW THAT!" Papyrus shouted, though he looked mollified. He and Sans were sitting in Toriel's living room, the fire beside them crackling merrily. Papyrus had just come home when he saw Sans struggling under the human's weight. Together, they dragged it to Toriel's place, which was mercifully nearby. Toriel had panicked at the sight of the limp body in their grasp, and had bustled away with the human immediately, determined to nurse it back to health. Papyrus had offered help numerous times, but since he usually hindered more than assisted, Toriel had kindly banished him to the living room, kept company by Sans. To keep him out of trouble, as usual.

Papyrus kept asking questions about the human. Sans had told him what he knew: that the human's name was Heiress, or something like that. He withheld the belief that the human was probably dying—he didn't want Papyrus to start crying before there was any reason to.

The hours trickled by. Sans passed the time by napping. In his dreams, he was occasionally happy—visited by old friends from another time, friends he'd had to leave behind for some reason or another.

This wasn't a happy dream. In this dream, he watched Papyrus die, cut down right in front of him by a demonic, smiling, dust-covered child. The child came for him next, and though Sans kept throwing everything he had at it, the demon would not be deterred. It waited until Sans eventually ran out of energy, and then, when he was too tired to keep his eye sockets open any longer…

The sound of a door being thrown open jerked Sans awake. Just in time—he could feel his power flaring, spiking dangerously. He took a deep breath to calm himself, looking to Toriel when she entered the room. She looked flushed, and a faint crease between her brows suggested she was still worried, but she smiled as she looked at Papyrus and Sans. After all this time, that smile was still radiant.

"She'll be fine," Toriel assured the pair of them, even as Papyrus unhinged his jaw to no doubt unleash more questions, "she's just resting now."

' _She, huh?_ ' Though he suspected this might be the case, it was sometimes harder for Sans to tell gender with humans. Even Frisk didn't claim a specific gender; when asked, they always claim to be human, and that was it. They also mention being filled with determination a lot, but that was nothing new.

"Can we see her?" Papyrus asked, looking more concerned than he needed to be, like this human girl was already his friend. Sans minutely shook his head with a small smile. His brother was hopeless. That's what he loved most about him, though.

Toriel hesitated a moment. "Well…I suppose. But be careful that you do not disturb her."

"FEAR NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL DEFINITELY—"

"—not shout like that," Toriel interrupted with a stern look. "It will most definitely disturb her if you shout."

"OH." Papyrus looked slightly crestfallen. "Sorry," he said in a much quieter voice. Grinning to himself, Sans followed his brother down the hall.

The human was resting in Toriel's room. Sans had never been in here before, and he couldn't help but glance around. Pictures of Frisk were everywhere, documenting his growth throughout the years. Sans was in a couple of them as well, as were Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton (Sans frowned inwardly at the thought of the robot), and there was even one or two of Asgore, though it seemed that Toriel had purposefully focused the camera on Frisk, making sure that Asgore took up as little of the picture as possible. (' _That's cold, Tori,_ ' Sans thought to himself with a slight smirk.) After looking at it, Sans decided that the picture sitting atop the nightstand was his favorite: it featured Frisk and Toriel, with Toriel obviously attempting a selfie. Her thumb was in the way, however, which blocked most of her head from view, so that the picture only clearly showed Frisk holding up a peace sign.

Papyrus had immediately bustled over to the chair next to the bed, so Sans was left to stand beside him, looking down at the human in bed. Toriel had obviously groomed the human—her dark hair fanned out across the large pillow, no longer as wild-looking, but only just, and she was out of her wet clothes and in one of Toriel's dresses, the large fabric almost swallowing her. Her hands were folded over her stomach, her pale skin nearly blending in with the sheets. Though Sans could see her breathing deeply and evenly, she was so still in between breaths that he kept wondering if she would ever take another one. Silently, he wondered just how confident Toriel was in her assumption that the human would be "fine".

"Wowie," Sans heard Papyrus mutter. He looked over, surprised to find that his brother was blushing. "This human is really, really pretty!"

"You think so?" Sans looked over the human. He didn't quite see the appeal, to be honest. Then again, maybe it was his aversion to humans that made him biased.

"Yeah! Look at how strong her bones are! She must be beautiful under all that skin!" Papyrus asserted, tugging at his scarf, as if he were too hot. Sans chuckled.

"Whatever you do, don't tell her to take her skin off. I doubt the idea will be _a-peeling_ to her."

"SANS!"

The human stirred at Papyrus' shout, and Toriel appeared in the doorway.

"Papyrus! What did I say? Shh!" She scolded, but too late—the human's eyes were opening. Papyrus leaned forward eagerly. Sans followed suit. He blamed it on his brother's infectious curiosity.

The human groaned and mumbled something, blinking a couple times in the light. Sans saw that he wasn't wrong about her eyes—they were gray, almost silver, like starlight. She squinted into the light for a moment, and then glanced over as the shadow that was Papyrus fell over her. When she spotted him, her expression froze, blank with shock.

"GREETINGS, HUMAN!" Papyrus began immediately, striking a heroic pose. "YOU MUST HAVE MANY QUESTIONS, BUT FEAR NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS—"

' _Wait for it…_ ' Sans thought dryly.

The human screamed. With surprising speed, she was on her feet, standing on Toriel's bed, nearly tripping in the overlarge dress, armed only with the giant pillow. Sans had to hold back his laughter and groan of sympathy as the human whacked his brother across the head with the pillow.

"OW! HEY!" Papyrus protested, holding up his bony hands to fend off further attack. Toriel rushed into the room now, looking anxious.

"Please!" She cried, pushing Papyrus back to protect him from the frightened human, "we will not harm you, young one! Please calm down!"

The human screamed louder at the sight of Toriel, which Sans didn't think was very nice. Sure, he and Papyrus were startling for most humans, but Toriel was an angel. She shouldn't be screamed at like that.

"Monsters!" The human shrieked, now using the pillow as a shield. "Monsters! Get away from me! Get away!"

' _Well, she's not wrong,_ ' Sans thought wryly; they _were_ monsters. He just didn't think she was handling it in the right way, trembling behind that large pillow like that. And Toriel looked heartbroken, though Sans suspected it was because the human was terrified rather than being rejected because she was a monster. Before any of them could think of a way to calm the human, however, Toriel's door swung open again. There stood Frisk, looking tousle-haired and sleepy. Expression grumpy, they started signing, their hands moving rapidly through the air.

" _What's with the yelling?_ " Frisk wanted to know, rubbing one of their eyes.

"Oh, Frisk!" Toriel stepped forward, looking sheepish. There was a goat pun somewhere in there, Sans thought…but perhaps this wasn't the time. "I am so sorry we woke you. We have just been having a, um, misunderstanding, with our new friend here."

Frisk blinked, spotting the terrified human standing on the bed. Surprise flitted across their face, only to be taken over by an expression Sans knew well: determination.

" _I've got this,_ " Frisk signed, and Sans grinned as the kid climbed fearlessly onto Toriel's bed, despite the fact that the human was still armed. She only stared down in shock at Frisk, however, and her arms lowered unconsciously.

" _Hi. I'm Frisk,_ " Frisk greeted the human with a smile. " _Don't be afraid. These monsters won't hurt you. They're my friends._ "

The human stared uncomprehendingly at Frisk. "I don't…"

Ah, she didn't understand sign language. Sans considered it an ongoing problem, considering Frisk was supposed to be the ambassador for monsters.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Toriel hurried out of the room, to return a moment later with a mini-blackboard and chalk. "Here, Frisk," she urged, handing the items over to her adopted child.

"Ooh, great idea, Toriel!" Papyrus enthused with a big thumbs-up.

Sans grinned. "Talk about taking your work home with ya, huh?"

Toriel blushed. "A teacher is always prepared," she said, and Sans' grin widened.

Frisk was writing away on the chalkboard—it seemed they were determined to fill every inch of it with words. The humans' eyes followed the child's writing, kneeling down to get a better look. She gave Frisk curious glances from time to time, and dared to peek up at the monsters in the room, only for her gaze to dart away when she found them watching. Sans watched her closely, observing every emotion in her glance—fear, mostly—and every nervous twitch she had—she tended to fiddle with the ends of her hair when nervous. 'Know thy enemy' was an important saying for a reason, so though the human had had yet to make any lethal move towards them, Sans wanted to be ready if and when it eventually happened.

Frisk blew on the chalkboard when they were finished writing, sending white dust everywhere. It made Toriel sneeze, which made Sans wonder how she could use the stuff if it made her nose itch like that.

The human stared down at the chalkboard. Then she stared down at Frisk. Then she stared at the monsters. Sans thought he saw recognition flare in her eyes when her gaze landed on him, but she looked away too quickly for him to be sure.

"I don't understand," she admitted, speaking to Frisk. "Why are you here? Where are your parents?"

Frisk pointed at Toriel, and then signed the word for "mother". Toriel flushed with happiness, making Sans grin. Happy was a good look on Toriel.

The human seemed to understand, but her frown did not leave her face.

"I mean your _real_ parents," she pressed, lowering her voice, as if she wished to exclude the monsters from the conversation. "You know—your human mother and father."

Frisk paused. Sans saw Papyrus open his mouth, and then close it, looking uncomfortable. The topic of their original parents had always been a sore subject for Frisk…as far as any of them could conclude, the relationship hadn't been a happy one, and Frisk had escaped them by climbing Mt. Ebott, where they fell into the Underground and met all of them. No matter what timeline, Sans never really learned what happened to them…and it was a mystery he was comfortable leaving unsolved, for once.

Frisk was writing again, though Sans couldn't see what he was writing. The human leaned over to read over Frisk's shoulder, and Sans wondered what she was reading to make her eyes look sad like that. As if she couldn't help it, she reached over, resting a hand on Frisk's head. Sans tensed, but she only patted the child's head, the way Toriel often did.

"I…I'm sorry," she apologized softly. Frisk shook their head, then pressed their index fingers into their cheeks, making a wide smile. Again, as if she couldn't help it, the human smiled back, just a little.

Sans laughed to himself. Asgore had made the right choice—their ambassador was amazing.

"Look at that!" Papyrus exclaimed, making the human jump, "Frisk made a new friend! A really pretty friend…you should introduce us, Frisk! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans' brother's voice reached a high pitch that cracked; wow, he was actually nervous. Sans had only seen him act that way around Mettaton…though he tried not to think about that, because it annoyed him.

Frisk obliged Papyrus. He introduced Toriel first, writing her name and holding it up for the human to see while pointing at Toriel. He had also written "momster" underneath Toriel's name, which made Sans grin and Toriel snort with laughter. Sans was next, introduced as "the comic, Sans." Sans winked at Frisk, who grinned, though the human only frowned in confusion.

"It's a lot funnier on a computer," Sans assured her. This did not seem to help.

And finally, Papyrus was introduced as "The GREAT Papyrus", which made him blush and got him thoroughly overexcited.

"YES! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM AT YOUR SERVICE, HUMAN!" He announced, posing heroically once again.

"Isn't my brother cool?" Sans asked, winking at the human. She raised a dark eyebrow, as if to question Sans' sanity. Very boring human indeed.

"Excuse me," Toriel cut in, before things could get too out of hand as usual, "but may we know your name?"

"OH! I KNOW THAT ONE!" Papyrus shouted, jumping up and down in his excitement. "IT'S…it's…Princess, right?"

"Or something like that," Sans agreed, grinning. This made the human frown.

"Princess?" She questioned, as if she had never heard the word before. "No, that's not it. It's—"

Before she could finish, there was a loud "bang!" and the house shook slightly. Sans knew what that meant: the "bang" was the door being kicked in. Undyne had arrived.

"Yo!" She shouted, her stomping footsteps sounding from the living room. "Papyrus told me there's a new human in town!"

Toriel frowned at Papyrus, who had the modesty to blush.

"I just wanted to tell her about the pretty human we found," he admitted sheepishly.

"HUMAN!" Undyne called, her voice getting closer, "As a special welcome into our humble forest…I'm gonna treat you to the Undyne Special! Ngaaaaah!"

"You'd better stop her," Sans warned Papyrus before winking at the human. "Trust me, you won't like the Undyne Special. It's a soup-plex."

Papyrus groaned, both at his new duty and Sans' pun, before he rattled out of the room in an attempt to quell Undyne's enthusiasm. The human drew back against the wall, clutching Toriel's pillow to her, the borrowed dress cropping up around her neck. It made her look a lot smaller than she actually was.

"Fear not, young lady," Toriel urged, "I will not allow any harm to come to you. Undyne is really a nice person. She just gets a little…passionate…about things."

It was an understatement, but the human already looked like she was ready to pass out again, so Sans let it be. Instead, he watched Frisk pat the human's knee, waiting until she looked down to smile reassuringly. The human returned the smile tremulously.

Welp, anyone that was in Frisk's good graces was all right with Sans. For now.

"Come, Frisk," Toriel beckoned to her child, "it is far too late for you to be awake. You have school in the morning."

" _I don't get to sleep in even though you guys woke me? That's not fair,_ " Frisk signed with a pout.

"Don't talk back to your momster, kid," Sans playfully scolded the child, "go on, get to bed."

Frisk stuck their tongue out at Sans, but nonetheless did as they were told, taking Toriel's outstretched hand. They quietly left the bedroom…leaving Sans alone with the human. Great. Now he had to think of a really good joke to exit out on.

There was a hacking cough behind him, and he turned around, watching as the human pressed her hand to her lips, her body shivering with the harsh coughs expelled from her throat. It only lasted a couple seconds, but when she pulled her hand away, her fingers and lips were stained red.

The human stared down into her palm. The expression on her face…Sans hated to see it. It was like a light had been turned out behind her eyes, turning the silver color a stormy gray, and her face became gaunt, lifeless. It was like looking at the face of a corpse.

"Hey."

The human looked up at Sans with her lifeless eyes, and it was then that he realized that he had spoken. He hadn't meant to…he had nothing to say to this human. But she was still looking at him, with a face that look so defeated that he was spurred into speech once more.

"Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?" He asked. Something small flickered back to life in the human's eyes—a tiny flame.

"…Why?" she bothered to ask, closing her hand, hiding the blood in her palm from view. Sans took this as a sign of encouragement, and delivered the punch line.

"Because he didn't have the _guts_."

He waited. The human stared at him. She covered her mouth again, but the corners of her lips were twitching, as if she was fighting a smile.

"That's a terrible joke," she told him point blank. Sans grinned.

"You know what else is tear-able? Paper."

"Oh my god," the human sighed, but she was fighting a losing battle against the smile that began to spread across her face. "Stop. You're killing me."

"I've been known to knock 'em dead," Sans replied, a bit of dry humor thrown in this time around. The human had no idea how true that was. He chose not to enlighten her, because it looked like he'd finally gotten her in a good mood.

The human fought to keep her face straight. The action reminded him so much of Papyrus, who still smiled no matter how Sans' jokes were, and hated himself for it. Maybe this human wasn't so boring after all.

Sans opened his mouth to deliver another winner, but instead had to dodge at the last minute—the door flew open once again, and there stood Undyne, a victor's grin on her face. Papyrus was under one of her arms, and she was in the process of giving him what looked like a very strong noogie.

"A-ha! Found you, human!" Undyne declared, cackling as she dropped Papyrus and entered the room. "Papyrus tried to stop me, but I knew you couldn't hide forever! I'm Undyne!"

Sans glanced over at the human. After everything she'd had to put up with tonight, the arrival of the fish lady seemed to be too much. He watched her faint for the second time that night, slumped against Toriel's wall, the pillow held limply in her grasp.

Silence permeated the room. Sans made a bet with himself over who would start panicking first, and won almost instantly when Papyrus jumped to his feet.

"AHHH! THE HUMAN DIED!"

"She's not dead, just passed out," Sans bothered to correct. This didn't seem to help Papyrus' mood.

"SHE PASSED OUT! YOU SCARED HER, UNDYNE!"

"What?! I-it's not my fault! I can't help it if this human gets weak just by looking at me!"

"WHAT'LL I DO?! I WANTED TO ASK HER OUT ON A DATE, BUT THERE'S NO WAY SHE'D AGREE NOW! AND I WAS EVEN GOING TO TRY MY NEW SPAGHETTI RECIPE!"

"Don't blame me! If she passes out just by looking at people, she probably wouldn't be able to handle the new spaghetti recipe anyway!"

"Really!" Toriel burst out, looking annoyed as she entered her bedroom once more. "Must you two be so noisy? Frisk and the human are trying to sleep!"

Sans slipped out amongst the scolding, choosing to let Toriel handle this. He had done enough work for the night. It was time for a break. Maybe Grillbz had a new burger he could try.

Really, anything that put the dying human out of his mind for now was fine with Sans.


	3. Chapter Three: The Sky Is Falling

The sun lit the horizon on fire, sending swirls of pink, red, orange and yellow spiraling across the sky. Sans watched, only mildly impressed. He didn't blame the sun—it was trying its best, after all. He just had a little too much on his mind to fully enjoy it.

Frisk had gotten into another fight at school today. One of the human kids had said something derogatory about Toriel, and Frisk had punched the kid in the face. Toriel got upset, but Sans had never been prouder of the kid. Even now, it was very tempting to step in, to let no level of violence touch Frisk, so that they could remain pure and innocent for as long as possible…but Sans knew that it was better to let the kid fight their own battles. Frisk had to learn to handle difficult things themselves, and if it became too much…and Frisk began to develop a taste for violence…

Well, Sans thought grimly, he'd deal with that when it came. Wouldn't be the first time, after all…

The human, as far as anyone knew, had stayed in bed all day. She had been moved to the spare room Toriel had, and Papyrus had volunteered to watch over her while Toriel and Frisk were out, making pots and pots of spaghetti for the human to eat. He reported delightedly to Sans that they had had many meaningful conversations when he checked on her every five minutes, and every plate of spaghetti he had left out for the human had been eaten when he came to bring her more. Sans made a note to himself to check if the human was indeed still alive, and if she was, he would have to check the spare room to see where she'd disposed of the spaghetti. Three years later, Papyrus' cooking hadn't improved very much.

As for Sans, he'd contented himself with riding his motorized scooter for most of the day. He stayed on the back roads, riding around on his usual routes, routes that wouldn't take him too close to human civilization. He passed the occasional car, but once the humans inside realized what he was, they always sped away and took the first exit they could. It suited Sans just fine. He preferred to be alone on the road, anyway. It left him free to think about everything, and it meant less of him making faces at leering humans as he drove past their cars.

Vaguely, Sans wondered what Toriel planned to do about her human guest. It was very unlikely that she would stay—just because Frisk stuck around didn't mean that all humans were that strange. Frankly, Sans was surprised that no one had come looking for the human yet. Did they just not know where to start looking? Or…was it possible that the human just didn't have anyone to look for them…?

Now that was depressing. Sans put the thought out of his head—it was bad enough that he had to think of Frisk as abandoned that way. He didn't want to start feeling sorry for this human he barely knew as well.

Grunting, the skeleton pushed himself to his feet. It was about time to head home—Papyrus got cranky if Sans didn't check in before dark. Sans blamed it on them living on the surface, personally. Back in the Underground, Sans could come and go as he pleased, due in large part to the fact that Papyrus always knew where to look for him when he needed him. But on the surface, there was so much space, and so many places to look for Sans that Papyrus would no doubt get lost. Troubled by that thought, Sans got going. He could always teleport home, he supposed, but…nah, too tired. He'd just walk today.

Walking ended up being the right choice. As Sans walked along the cliff face, he stumbled upon a familiar face: the human was standing on one of the cliff's outcroppings, staring into the sea below. She was back in the clothes Sans found her in, which was good, because Toriel's dress would've been blown right off her if she dared to step outside in it on such a windy day. Her dark hair tangled in the winter wind, blowing around her face, but she barely seemed to notice; the hand that reached up to brush it back behind her ear was only acting automatically. The lights were on inside, but the family had obviously gone to go see a movie or something.

"Yo," Sans called, wanting to announce his approach to the human. The last thing he needed was to terrify her enough to slip off the cliff on accident. The human still jumped, but she stayed on the cliff. Sans would take it.

Approaching the human revealed just how much taller she was than Sans—the top of his head stopped about two inches below her shoulder. Sans shrugged it off. It wasn't hard for people to be taller than him, after all.

"Fancy seeing you here," he joked, stopping just short of the human. He stood a little apart from her, gazing down into the dark waves that crashed against the cliff before his eye sockets returned to the human's face. "Thinking of jumping? To be honest, it's easier if you don't think about it and just do it."

The human didn't look at him, but the corners of her eyes tightened.

"That's not funny," she said quietly. She had a mournful sort of quality to her voice, Sans had noticed. It was like she found something perpetually tragic when she spoke.

Sans shrugged. "I wasn't joking," he said honestly. The human's eyes flashed over to him, almost gold in the fading sunlight. She eyed him suspiciously, as if he was making fun of her.

"Why are you smiling then, if you weren't joking? Is your sense of humor really that skewed?"

' _Yep. But not for the reasons you're thinking._ '

Sans shrugged again. "I'm always smiling. I have no lips to cover my teeth."

The human frowned and looked away from him, into the setting sun now.

"Well, Princess?" Sans pressed, "gonna jump or stick around?"

The human's frown deepened.

"There it is again," she mumbled before turning to look at Sans. "Why do you and your brother think my name is Princess?"

"Papyrus thinks your name is Princess," Sans bothered to correct, winking at the human. "I know your name. It's Heiress, right?"

"Yes," the human replied slowly, "but I still don't get why…"

Sans waited, but the human trailed off, staring at a point over his shoulder. He bothered to glance over, but knew there was nothing there. So what had grabbed her attention?

"Oh," she breathed, and Sans turned back to look at her. Understanding lit her eyes, and she scratched the side of her head. For a moment, Sans wondered how her fingers didn't get trapped in such thick hair. "I think…you misunderstood something."

"Oh?" Sans grinned at the thought of him misunderstanding anything. It didn't happen often, so when it did, he was always amused by it. The human frowned, as if confused by said amusement, before shaking her head and moving on.

"My name isn't spelled H-E-I-R-E-S-S," she corrected, tracing the letters in the air with her index finger, "It's A-E-R-I-S. Aeris."

Aeris. Sans turned the name over in his head, but no matter how long he thought, he couldn't come up with a proper joke about it. How disappointing.

"Odd name," he said without thinking. The human's frown returned.

"This coming from a talking skeleton who's named after a _font_ ," she shot back, turning to scowl at the sunset instead of him, folding her arms across her chest. This also amused Sans; her pout was very reminiscent to Frisk's.

"I'm still just gonna call you Princess," he said with a lazy shrug. "If we try to change your name now, Papyrus will get confused."

"But my name isn't—"

"Of course," Sans cut across her with another shrug, "he may just keep calling you 'human'. Yeah, actually, that's way easier. No confusion at all, since you _are_ a human. I'll just call ya that."

The human stared at him. It was clear by the look on her face that she knew she wouldn't win with him, and so she gave up, turning her back on him with a huff. Sans watched with a pinprick of apprehension as she sank down onto the outcropping, her legs dangling over the edge. When it became clear that she wasn't about to throw herself over the edge anytime soon, he joined her. She eyed him from her peripheral vision, but otherwise didn't react.

"So, your Highness—" Sans paused, grinning as the human closed her eyes. She seemed to be counting to ten. He waited until she looked a little calmer before he continued, "What brings you out here all by your _bone_ some?"

The human closed her eyes again. It took her longer to open them once more, and even longer to answer.

"I had to get away from your brother," she admitted. Sans sympathized completely.

"What'd he do this time?"

"It wasn't him…" The human sighed. "It's me. Papyrus is…sweet…but I can't stand being hovered over, like I'll explode if someone isn't watching me every single second. That, and if I ate any more of his spaghetti, I actually _would_ explode."

Sans glanced over, waiting for the punch line.

"…Wait," he said when the human didn't say anything, "you're telling me…you actually _ate_ all that spaghetti…?"

The human looked over, blinking in confusion at Sans' tone.

"Yes," she admitted, the crease between her eyebrows returning. "He made way too much, but I wasn't going to turn down a hot meal. Besides, for a skeleton, your brother's cooking skills are pretty good."

Sans stared. "You makin' fun of me?" He eventually asked. The human blinked again.

"No," she replied, and Sans was further surprised to hear how sincere she was.

He didn't believe it. There was someone out there who actually enjoyed Papyrus' cooking. It was the end of the world, for sure.

Sans laughed to himself, turning to stare out at the darkening horizon. "Do me a favor. Don't tell Papyrus you like his spaghetti, or that's all you—or anyone else—will be getting from him for a year."

The reds, oranges and yellows were fading from the sky, giving way to every shade of blue and purple Sans had ever heard of. He watched the colors change for a while, aware of the human's eyes on him, but choosing not to meet them.

"You're makin' me blush, Princess," he said after a while, when the human had not looked away. He didn't look over at her, but he could practically feel the scowl scrunching up her face.

"Skeletons can't blush." She paused. "…Can they?"

"Watch Papyrus' face when he looks at you," Sans advised with a wink. "Then you'll have your answer."

The human raised an eyebrow. "Okay…?"

They sat in companionable silence until the sky darkened completely. Stars winked into existence, twinkling around the moon. For three years, Sans had looked up at this sight, fascinated…and unbearably lonely. Stupid how gassy balls of light in the sky could make him feel so isolated.

"Why do you look like that?"

Sans broke out of his reverie to find the human staring at him again. Her eyes had turned silver in the moonlight again, her pale skin seeming to glow. She cradled her chin in a hand as she looked at him, not quite frowning. Sans glanced away.

"What? Chill? Handsome? What can I say? It's in my bones," he said with a shrug. The human's expression twitched, but her face remained straight. For the most part.

"That's an interesting defense mechanism you have," she commented lightly. Sans' teeth clenched together behind his grin.

"I don't know what you mean, Princess."

"I think you do," the human challenged, leaning forward now. Her eyes burned with an intensity Sans hadn't seen before—it was like she was trying to look right through him. That would be incredibly easy if he weren't wearing clothes, of course, but—

"I noticed it just now, looking at you," the human continued, cutting through Sans' mental tangent. "Papyrus speaks very highly of you, despite you driving him bonkers with your puns—and I get where he's coming from, believe me. But…he also seemed to think that there was a certain sadness about you. A sadness you don't want anyone else to see."

Sans' grin faltered. Papyrus was far more observant than he ever gave him credit for.

"I didn't really get it when he said that," the human admitted, her gaze shifting to the sea for a moment, "but looking at you just now, I think I know what he meant." She glanced back over at Sans, pinning him with her gaze. "You look like the sky is falling."

Sans stared at the human. He…honestly, he didn't know how to react. His default would've been a joke of some kind, but it wouldn't work here, not with the human nailing him with such deadly accuracy. He was a little unnerved by her, actually—sure, Papyrus could always tell when Sans was feeling down, despite how wide he grinned, and even Toriel and Frisk had begun to sense when all was not well with the skeleton, but it had taken them a while to catch on. This human—Aeris—she had bypassed the distractions that were his grin and his terrible jokes, and stared into the soul behind it, spotting Sans for what he really was. He'd never felt so exposed in his life.

She must be one hell of a golf player, with that hole-in-one shot she just made.

Sans was still trying to figure out how to respond to her observation when a cold wind blew past. Aeris turned away and coughed harshly, her body lurching forward. Alarmed, Sans reached out, his bony fingers inches away from Aeris' elbow, but she abruptly stopped coughing and sat up straight, breathing raggedly. Sans let his arm drop back to his side.

Silence passed between them. Sans struggled with himself, trying to figure out whether to be serious or make light of the fact that the human seemed to be dying. She seemed aware of her own mortality as well; she got to her feet, pushing her hair back from her face.

"I should go. I don't want Toriel to worry."

Aeris turned and walked away, Sans staring after her. She only took a few steps before she was turning back around, however. She came back, looking uncomfortable about something.

"…Papyrus told me it was you who found me and brought me to Toriel's house. I, uh, never thanked you for that. So…thanks. For, you know, saving my life."

Sans looked away. Sure, he had saved her life. But how much of her life was actually left for her to live at this point? Maybe, and Sans hated himself for thinking this, but just maybe, it would've been kinder to leave her to freeze to death. It wouldn't have been a very quick death, but her suffering would've been over already. Living this way, watching herself hack up her insides…was it really any better?

Sans kept his brooding thoughts to himself, and instead, fell back on his instincts. He hitched a grin onto his face, trying to ignore the fact that it now felt fake around Aeris. They were always fake, to some degree, but now that someone had actually called him on it, he was beginning to feel self-conscious. He hated that.

"Any time, Princess," he replied to her at last. Aeris rolled her eyes and turned around, the swish of her long jacket seeming to echo in the wind. Sans watched her walk away until he couldn't see her anymore, and then turned his gaze onto the moon and stars. It felt like a long time that he sat out there, thinking, but it was probably only for about ten minutes. A shrill ring sounded in his pocket, and Sans retrieved his cell phone, knowing without looking who it would be.

"Hey, Papyrus. …Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I guess I just lost track of time. Yeah. I'll be home soon."

He hung up and stood up. Looked like he'd be having a long conversation with Papyrus tonight about what was okay and not okay to talk to the human about. And he swore, if Papyrus had said anything to Aeris about his socks…


	4. Chapter Four: Observations

Aeris, it transpired, didn't like having idle time. While Toriel expressed concern over her moving about the next day, Aeris brushed it off, insisting that she repay Toriel's hospitality in any way she could. It was Saturday, so Papyrus and Sans came over to watch Frisk's favorite morning cartoons together, and Toriel took advantage of the free babysitting, using her time to clean. Aeris, determined to help despite Toriel's assurances that it would only take a few minutes with magic, had grabbed a duster and started dusting in the living room while Toriel tackled the bathroom. Sans watched her from the corner of his eye sockets, noting every pause she had to take and every time she closed her eyes, looking like she was about to faint. She persevered, however, refusing to sit down until every surface within reach was dusted.

Papyrus watched her the whole time too, Sans noticed, though he tried to pretend like he wasn't. His eye sockets shifted from the T.V. to Aeris so much that Sans wondered how he didn't get dizzy. When Frisk noticed this inattentiveness and wanted to know what was wrong, Papyrus nervously brushed it off, blushing and saying an embarrassed "nyeh heh heh" to himself. He seemed to droop sadly when Aeris moved on to the kitchen, and proceeded to keep asking Frisk if they wanted a snack or a drink, anything at all from the kitchen. Sans grinned to himself. He was all behind his brother's new crush if it meant that Papyrus would finally forget about that insufferable robot.

When lunch time rolled around, the whole group decided to go out. Sans suggested Grillbz's new place, of course, and Papyrus wanted to go somewhere where they served spaghetti, but Toriel quelled the suggestions with a raised hand.

"Now now," she said after it got quiet, "we really should ask our guest where she would like to eat." She turned to Aeris, who looked surprised at having her opinion solicited. "Aeris? Where would you like to go?"

"Oh…I don't know," she admitted, a slight flush bringing color into her otherwise pale cheeks. "I'm fine with anywhere, really."

"Are you sure?" Toriel pressed, looking concerned. "There's no human restaurant you would want to—"

" _No._ "

Toriel paused. Aeris blinked, as if just realizing that she had been rude.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, looking embarrassed. "I would…just rather stay around here. If you don't mind."

"Very well…" Toriel replied, though the concern did not leave her face as she turned to ask Frisk what they were in the mood for. Sans glanced over at Aeris, but her face was averted, staring at the ground. It was the corpse's mask again.

They ended up at Grillby's II, which was just fine with Sans. They took a booth, and Sans ordered everyone burgers and fries, asking Grillbz to put it on his never-ending tab. Since the area was mostly inhabited by monsters, everyone stared at Aeris when she walked in. This appeared to make her nervous at first, but as if they knew what she was thinking, Frisk reached up and took Aeris' hand, smiling in encouragement. The smile returned, Aeris began to relax a little.

Plenty of monsters stopped by their booth. Many of them chatted with Sans, but Sans could see that a lot of them were just using him as an excuse to get a closer look at the human. She was wedged in between Frisk and Papyrus, dead center in the booth, and avoided most everyone's gaze, fiddling with the ends of her hair. Frisk was using the opportunity to teach her some sign language, with Toriel's help. Papyrus was also assisting…in his own way. He kept shouting the answers when Frisk attempted to quiz Aeris on the sign language he'd just taught her, which caused Toriel to scold him for not allowing Aeris to learn on her own. But Aeris laughed and thanked Papyrus with a pat on the hand, which excited the skeleton.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?" He asked Sans in an unnecessarily loud voice, "THE HUMAN TOUCHED MY HAND! WOWIE! I'LL—I'LL NEVER WASH MY FINGERS AGAIN!"

Sans caught Aeris' eye and winked, and she grinned in an embarrassed sort of way.

After lunch, Papyrus ran off for an afternoon cooking lesson with Undyne, promising to see them all at Alphys' lab later that night for a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie marathon.

"Mew Mew Kissy Cutie?" Aeris questioned, watching Papyrus rattle away, still cradling the hand she touched as if it were a precious artifact. "That kid's show that's been rebooted?"

"Yes…Alphys and Undyne are quite…passionate…about that show," Toriel admitted, with a face that suggested that she didn't exactly understand it, either. "You do not have to go if you do not wish to, Aeris."

Aeris thought about it. "I'll go," she decided after a minute. "I haven't met Alphys yet…and who knows? Maybe I'll end up liking the show."

"I hope not, for your sake," Sans said with a grin, "if you get sucked into that show, Alphys and Undyne won't ever let you leave the lab."

"Yikes," Aeris said mildly. A melodic tune broke the camaraderie, and Toriel reached into one of her pockets to withdraw a cell phone. Her expression darkened for a moment.

"Well, I have papers to grade," she said, leaning over and patting Frisk on the head. "Be good, okay? He'll be coming to pick you up now."

"He?" Aeris asked, but Toriel was already walking off, and quite quickly. It seemed as if she was in a hurry to exit the area. Aeris turned to Sans. "Who's 'he'?"

Frisk answered. They tugged on Aeris' sleeve and handed her their cell phone, where a quick message was typed:

" _He's Asgore. He's my dad._ "

"What, no monster pun this time?" Sans asked, reading the text at Aeris's elbow. "I'm disappointed in you, kid."

Frisk stuck their tongue out at Sans.

"Dad, huh?" Aeris said softly, returning Frisk's phone to them. "Why—"

Before she could finish the question, a large shadow fell over all three of them.

"Howdy!" A new voice said. Sans watched Aeris visibly pale as she looked up into the face of the large goat man. His size would've been alarming to lots of people…if it weren't for the Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts he wore, making him look inappropriately festive in the middle of winter. He even had the nerve to wear sandals, his furry toes brushing against the snow on the ground. Sans would've made a joke about that…if he himself weren't wearing house slippers.

"Howdy yourself, your Majesty," Sans greeted, grinning to himself when Aeris looked down at him in mild confusion, though he wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't sure whether he was addressing her or not.

Asgore's smile faltered slightly at the sight of the skeleton. "Sans," he greeted with a polite nod. Sans supposed he couldn't blame him—the ex-king had never quite gotten over how close Sans had gotten to his ex-wife. What did bother Sans, however, was the speculative look that entered Aeris' eyes as she watched the exchange. No need to give her any more ammo against him.

Frisk was a convenient distraction, throwing themself at Asgore's legs in a hug. Asgore chuckled and picked the child up, as if they weighed nothing more than a feather, giving them a proper hug.

"Hello to you too, Frisk. You get bigger and bigger every time I see you!"

Sans kind of doubted that—Asgore had just seen Frisk last week, and Sans was pretty sure the kid hadn't grown any bigger…but maybe that was because he saw Frisk every day, so little changes took longer to register. …Nah, Sans missed nothing. Asgore was just being a doting father.

" _I made a new friend, Dad,_ " Frisk signed to Asgore, pointing at Aeris.

"So I see!" Asgore set the child back down and straightened up, smiling down at Aeris. "Hello, young lady. May I know your name?"

"A-Aeris," Aeris mumbled, staring up at the ex-king with wide eyes.

Asgore's face became politely puzzled. "Heiress? Then are you royalty?"

Aeris sighed, frowning at Sans. He shrugged—wasn't his fault her name was so weird.

After explaining how to properly spell her name, Asgore nodded impressively. "I see! So your name is Aeris. That's a lovely name."

"Thank you, er, your Majesty," Aeris replied with an uncertain glance at Sans. Asgore chuckled.

"No need for that. I might have been king of the monsters at one point, but now, I am just Asgore."

Sans grinned to himself as Aeris' mouth fell open. "K-King of—?"

"Ancient history," Asgore replied genially, smiling brightly. "Well, it was very nice to meet you, Aeris. Frisk has promised to help me with my garden today, so we'll be going now…unless you'd like to come with us?"

Aeris blinked, obviously surprised by the invitation. For some reason, she glanced down at Sans, as if she expected his input. He shrugged again. She was free to do whatever she wanted, after all. It wasn't like he was her keeper…

"…Okay," she replied after a moment with an uncertain smile. Frisk looked delighted, however, and her smile grew more genuine. "As long as I don't have to do any heavy lifting or anything, I don't see why not."

"Ho ho ho. Don't worry, young lady," Asgore said, hoisting Frisk up onto one of his massive shoulders, "any heavy lifting that needs to be done will be my responsibility. You can help Frisk water the flowers."

Sans watched Aeris' face light up at the mention of flowers. "That sounds nice…but it's the middle of winter. Unless you have a greenhouse—"

"You'll see," Sans cut off her protest, walking past her with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "Come on."

Asgore and Frisk regarded him with surprise. "You're coming, too?"

"Why not? Seems like a nice day for gardening," Sans replied easily. Asgore seemed to struggle with this answer.

"But…you've never—"

"You worry too much, your Majesty," Sans insisted, his grin widening. "Besides…I want to check on that 'old friend' of ours…"

Frisk frowned at this, but Asgore seemed to understand. He nodded.

"Very well. Er, follow me, then."

The large goat man in the summer wardrobe began to walk away, laughing as Frisk began signing jokes at him. Sans began to follow them, but paused when he noticed Aeris was still standing where she was. He turned around to find that she was staring at him, head tilted to the side, lips pursed, brow puckered. Trying to see through him again. Sans was beginning to hate that expression on her.

"After you, Princess" he insisted, waving one of his arms with a mock bow. Aeris made a face and marched past him, nose in the air. Sans grinned to himself and walked behind her, strolling at his own pace. Back here, no one was looking at him, and so he let his grin falter, his eye sockets on Aeris' back.

Asgore was right: Sans never visited his garden. It just wasn't necessary. He had used the 'old friend' that resided there as an excuse, knowing that Asgore wouldn't protest if that was Sans' reason. But it wasn't Sans' true reason.

Sans wanted to tag along because he wanted to watch Aeris. He would never admit this out loud—he hated having to admit it to himself—but it was gnawing at him that she seemed able to just take one look at him and discern his true nature. That wasn't fair. He hardly knew anything about her, but he was apparently just a piece of glass to her, with how transparent he seemed. It wasn't cool. Sans was the one who was used to seeing through people—that was _his_ thing. Who did this human think she was, usurping him like that?

So Sans decided to watch her. All he truly knew about her was that she seemed to be either really sick or dying—probably both. That couldn't be it. There had to be more. If he watched her long enough, watched how she reacted to others, monitored her actions, then her true nature should be revealed. It was only a matter of time…and Sans could wait.

He didn't know about Aeris, but he had all the time in the world.


	5. Chapter Five: Sick Twisted Weed

The loud gasp that escaped Aeris had been worth tagging along for, Sans thought. It made her cough a little, though. She stopped after a moment, waving off Asgore's concerned questions and Frisk's worried look, choosing instead to step out into Asgore's backyard.

It was still very much winter out here, but one wouldn't know it, judging by the multicolored blooms that were bursting from the ground in the large backyard. Flowers of every shape, size, type, and color littered the landscape, and Sans watched as Aeris took it all in, a dazed look on her face.

"How is this possible?" She asked, breathless with awe. Asgore chuckled at her expression.

"With just a little bit of magic, young lady," he replied with an insider's wink. "And lots of TLC as well, of course."

Sans watched as Aeris reached out, fingertips brushing against the shape of a nearby red rose. The bush seemed to crave her touch; the flowers all turned in her direction, blossoming brilliantly. She knelt down, inhaling the aroma, a peaceful smile on her face.

"Your garden is beautiful," she complimented Asgore, and he beamed at her.

Frisk ran forward, carrying two sloshing watering cans. Aeris accepted one from him, and together, they made their way around the garden, watering the flowers as Asgore lumbered away to his lawn mower, apparently determined to give the grass a good trim. Sans stood back, watching Aeris and Frisk as they fed the plants. Frisk, mischievous child that they were, sprinkled some water down the back of Aeris' shirt when she knelt down to water the begonias. Her surprised shriek echoed through the garden, and Sans grinned as she chased Frisk with her own watering can, sprinkling their head with water and warning them that daisies were currently sprouting from their hair.

Shaking his bony head, the skeleton left them to their fun, taking a path through the garden that was overgrown, due to disuse. Odd, since Sans knew that this path had to be trampled by the ex-king every day…but he knew better than to trust magical vines. Indeed, sensing his intent, they cleared the way for him, drawing back into the shadows of the large trees that lined the path, returning to their lounging only when he passed.

None of the brightness of the main garden penetrated the shadows here. It was quiet and gloomy, almost ominous. Sans ignored the shadows, following the twisting path all the way to the end, where a small, plain, brick square awaited. In a large flower pot in the center, a large flower was planted. It had golden petals, a long stem, and a face that was deceptively friendly. When it saw Sans, however, its friendly face dropped, to be replaced with a sour look.

"Oh. It's _you_ ," the flower grumbled in a high-pitched voice, not bothering to hide its displeasure. "What're you doing here? Honestly, if I have to see a bonehead, I'd rather it be your brother. _He_ knows how to appreciate me."

Sans ignored the flower's jibes. It was just bitter about being stuck in a pot all the time.

"I'm sure Papyrus will visit soon," he assured the flower, grinning in a menacing way, "but for today, you get me. Don't worry, I'm not staying long. Just making sure you're behaving."

"Yeah, 'cause I can get into _sooo_ much trouble like this," Flowey spat, baring its teeth at Sans. "Stuck here in this pot, unable to move and see the rest of the surface world…if it weren't for me, none of you would be up here either! But do I get any respect? NO! I get imprisoned in a magic flower pot that keeps me from going anywhere! It isn't fair!"

Sans felt the light in his left eye begin to flare. Talking to this flower pissed him off; he had never met such an uppity creature before. He thought about turning around and leaving the damn plant to its tantrum, but he heard vines shift aside behind him and turned around.

Frisk and Aeris were there; Frisk had Aeris by the hand, and was leading her forward.

"Kid—" Sans began, eyeing Aeris, because he didn't think it was a good idea for her to be back here, but—

"Well, if it isn't my old buddy, Frisk!" Flowey cheered, its face changing immediately to its misleading friendly demeanor. "Come on over, pal! Who's your pretty friend there?"

" _This is Aeris_ ," Frisk replied before Sans could stop him, and the skeleton felt a twitch of unease, though he didn't see how Flowey could cause trouble just by knowing Aeris' name…

"Hello, Aeris! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" The flower greeted, extending one of its leaves, as if to shake Aeris' hand. Aeris stared at it in response.

"…The flower's talking," she said to no one in particular, silver eyes fixed on the golden plant. Despite himself, Sans couldn't help but chuckle. Aeris had met talking skeletons, a fish lady, and two goat people in the span of three days, but a talking flower was what really got her goat. Ha… 'got her goat'. He still had it.

"Don't worry," he spoke, shrugging with his hand in his pockets, "it doesn't really have much to say."

Flowey gave Sans an annoyed look, but when Aeris turned back to the flower, it fixed its expression once again.

" _Are you being good?_ " Frisk asked, and Flowey couldn't help but frown at that. Sans reflected silently that Flowey should be grateful to Frisk—if it were up to him, the flower wouldn't even be here. If Frisk hadn't begged and pleaded, promising they would watch over the flower themselves…that flower would be dead. Sans would've made sure of it.

"Of course, pal!" Flowey replied, its smile looking strained now. "Not much trouble for me to get into up here, is there?"

"…You sound bitter about that," Aeris noted. Sans glanced over at her, wondering just how much of this she was really seeing. And then he wondered if he was comfortable with her seeing through Flowey the way she saw through him.

Flowey's expression became sarcastic. "Bitter? Oh no, no, I'm not bitter. It's just that my existence is meaningless here. I could be out doing something useful…conquering worlds…becoming a god…but will certain people cooperate? Nooooo…"

Frisk shifted, looking uncomfortable. Sans clenched his teeth, but Flowey kept going.

"And yet, 'certain people' thought it was a good idea to bring me up here, trapped in this flower pot forever. Do you really think this will help me change? _Do you really think I'll learn my lesson here…?_ "

Frisk flinched, shifting back. Flowey's expression had become demonic, and it wriggled on its stem, as if it ached to lash out and attack.

" _My philosophy hasn't changed. Even the humans up here know that it's kill or be killed. They kill each other every day. Murders, school shootings, terrorist attacks—more and more, every day, the bodies pile up. And it's never going to stop! It's just a never-ending game, just like before! I love it!_ "

He cackled in a truly terrifying way. Sans stepped forward, blue fire glowing in his left hand, the light in his eye flaring in response. He'd had just about enough of this goddamn flower. Frisk would be upset, but there was no way Sans could let himself be swayed any longer. The flower said so itself—it hadn't learned anything. It wouldn't learn anything. And it was better off dead.

Just as Sans raised his arm, however, the flower's cackling cut off, becoming a yelp of pain. Sans stared, admittedly dumbstruck.

Aeris had one of the flower's petals gripped in between her thumb and forefinger. She gave a tug, and Flowey flinched.

"Hey! What're you doing? Stop that! Let go!" The flower protested, but it seemed that it dared not to lean in the other direction, or the hostage petal would part company with its face. Sans looked at Aeris' profile, startled to find that her expression was as frosty as the wind outside. She gave another tug, and Flowey squealed in protest.

"Life is not a game, you sick, twisted weed," she hissed at him, giving the flower petal another tug. Flowey winced and whimpered, looking almost pitiable. Almost. "Life is a fight for survival. It's not a 'kill or be killed' situation—it's a free-for-all. Life here is so much more chaotic than you could ever imagine. So if I were you, I'd be grateful for this pot you're stuck in, because if you had to live out in the real world, you wouldn't last two seconds."

She finally released the petal. Flowey glared at her, rubbing its ripped petal, but she had gotten up and stomped away, the vines hastily clearing out of the way for her. Frisk dithered on the spot, looking troubled; they appeared to want to help Flowey, but they didn't want Aeris being by herself either. Sans thought about it, then nodded, ruffling Frisk's hair.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Go get Asgore—he'll help you help the weed."

" _But Aeris_ —"

"I'll take care of her," Sans promised. Frisk hovered for one more second, indecisive, but Sans gave them a thumbs up. Their face set with determination (of course), Frisk ran off to find Asgore. Sans glanced back at Flowey. Idly, the thought of killing it once and for all crossed his mind once again…but he ultimately decided against it. For now.

Besides, watching the flower be humiliated by Aeris was satisfying in its own right. 'Sick, twisted weed'…Sans would have to remember that one.

The skeleton found the human near the rose bush that she'd touched when they first entered Asgore's garden. She was crouched in front of the roses, and they were turned towards her again, yearning for her as if she was the sun. In the distance, Sans could see Frisk getting Asgore's attention, the ex-king cutting off his large mower with a look of concern on his large goat face.

Sans sat down next to Aeris, his back to the roses. He grinned lazily, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "So. I take it you didn't appreciate what the evil flower had to say back there."

Aeris didn't respond. She coughed instead, that hacking cough Sans began to recognize. Sure enough, when she pulled back the hand she had pressed to her mouth, blood was in her palm once again. Sans regarded it grimly, and then looked away.

"…So it's true." He glanced over at Aeris from the corner of his eye sockets. "You're dying."

Aeris closed her hand. It was shaking, but her voice was quite steady when she responded, "Yes."

"Then last night, when I found you…you _were_ planning to jump."

"No." A pause. A soft, hesitant sigh. "…Maybe. I was thinking about it."

"I told you, you can't think about it. Otherwise you just end up thinking about it instead of just doing it."

"I was thinking about it," Aeris said, her tone growing forceful, "but I wasn't going to do it, in the end."

Now this was curious.

"Why not?" Sans shrugged, failing to see the problem. "You're dying anyway. If you jumped, it would've been quick. Why suffer like this?"

Aeris turned to look at Sans. His lazy grin dropped when he saw something unexpected—her eyes were filled with tears.

"…Because I don't _want_ to die," she snapped, frowning at him as a river of tears began to cascade down her cheeks. "I want to _live_. Is that so wrong? To want to keep my life, no matter how meaningless it is? Even if it would be easier to just end it—to just pass out in the snow or jump off a cliff—is it wrong of me to want to keep living? Is it selfish? Am I a bad person because I want to live so badly?"

Sans didn't have a response ready for that. He supposed he spoke without thinking, saying that Aeris just should've died when she had the opportunity. He had made the assumption that she had already given up, that she had accepted her fate…but he was wrong. Aeris wasn't giving up. She wanted to cling to what she had left of her life, no matter how short a time that might be. Her will to live hadn't diminished in the slightest.

Human determination sure was something.

Aeris turned away from him. Sans sat there, listening to her sniffle, the fabric of her shirt ruffling as she dried her eyes. He could think of no way to comfort her. Silence passed between them for a while.

Finally, with one more sniffle, Aeris stood up. She looked paler than usual, but she stood straight and strong. She glanced down at Sans, and then away. Color flooded her cheeks.

"…Sorry. I didn't want you to see me like that," she apologized.

Sans blinked at that. Huh…was she embarrassed about the crying? Or her confession of wanting to live?

"I didn't mind," he admitted, climbing to his feet. If anything, it was a useful insight into the way Aeris thought. He was one step closer to unraveling how she ticked…though, admittedly, it seemed as if he still had a long way to go. "Sorry for, er, telling you to just get it over with."

Aeris snorted at that. It was good to hear her laugh. "Yeah, that was so rude. Do you really want me dead that much?"

Sans grinned, about to comeback with something snarky. But then he looked up at Aeris, at her slight smile and shining silver eyes…and the retort got lost somewhere on the way to his mouth.

"Not at all," he admitted, surprising himself with how truthful he sounded. It looked as if he surprised her, too: Aeris' smile faltered, and pink bloomed in her cheeks once again. She looked away, clearing her throat and looking uncertain.

"Well…thanks," she said somewhat awkwardly. Sans shrugged it off, though he felt awkward, too.

"Don't mention it." ' _Seriously, don't._ '

Asgore and Frisk returned at that moment, and Sans was grateful for the perpetual distraction that was Frisk. They told Sans and Aeris that Flowey would be just fine; Frisk had bandaged the damaged petal and given Flowey some water. The petal was expected to be as good as new in a few days, but Asgore politely requested that Aeris not visit Flowey again. Aeris apologized profusely, and Frisk and Asgore forgave her easily. Sans personally didn't feel that any damage Aeris did to Flowey was anything to cry about…but, just this once, he kept his opinion to himself.


	6. Chapter Six: The Letter

"Sans! SANS, WAKE UP!"

The skeleton grunted awake from where he lay on the couch, opening an eye socket to look up lazily at his brother.

"What's up, Papyrus? You need me to test some spaghetti before you force-feed it to Princess?"

"No!" Papyrus went red, as he often did nowadays, when Aeris was mentioned. Just a month had come and gone since her arrival, and it already felt like she had been a part of their daily lives forever. During the week, she acted as Toriel's assistant during her classes, and an extra hand for Asgore when he needed help tending to the gardens around the school. She played with the kids during recess, but only for ten minutes a day—any more and she went into a coughing fit, and Toriel forced her to lie down in the infirmary.

On Tuesday nights, it was becoming a tradition for Aeris to head to Alphys' lab, where she, Alphys and Undyne would watch the latest episode of the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie reboot, and on Thursday nights, she, Frisk, Papyrus and Toriel would watch Mettaton's variety show at Toriel's house, joined only occasionally by Sans, mostly because he hated watching the robot, but partially because he had other things to do.

All of the monsters and Frisk were aware of Aeris' illness, though most of them were tactful enough not to mention it, and to act normal after a coughing fit from Aeris. Only Undyne and Papyrus did not react correctly—Undyne kept trying to get Aeris to agree to a training regime that she swore would toughen Aeris up so much that her illness would disappear out of sheer terror, and Papyrus always rushed off to make a fresh batch of spaghetti, claiming that it was so good that it would cure her illness, as long as Aeris ate enough of it. Aeris bore their doting as patiently as she could, but occasionally Toriel had to step in, before things got too out of hand.

Sans, for his part, was doing his utmost best to make sure that he wasn't alone with Aeris for too long. He still watched her, of course, but it was just simpler to do it with others around. For one thing, even though Papyrus acted like it was a good thing that Sans and Aeris seemed to be such good friends, Sans could tell that he was a little jealous. He always seemed to deflate when learning that Aeris had spent an afternoon in the company of his brother, and promised that he, the great Papyrus, and Aeris would hang out the very next afternoon, always forgetting that he had cooking lessons with Undyne in the afternoons.

And for another thing…well…being around Aeris made Sans…uneasy. He didn't like that look she sometimes wore when she was studying him, as if he was a puzzle she was slowly putting together, piece by piece. And even though he studied her just as intently when they were around their friends, she gave nothing away, because she didn't need to: her reactions were always honest. Her laughter was distracting, her smiles infectious, and the sour look/grudging smirk she wore when Sans delivered a particularly dreadful pun was always worth the groans from Papyrus. In a way, she reminded Sans a lot of his favorite things about his friends, like she was mirroring all those qualities back at them from all sides. It unsettled him, and so he distanced himself from her as much as possible. It wouldn't do to get too attached to her anyway, since she was dying and everything.

But Sans was very careful not to say that in front of anyone else, especially Papyrus.

"I've been thinking," Papyrus began, and Sans was surprised to see how shy his brother suddenly seemed, shuffling his feet and looking awkward. It was kind of adorable. "I've been wanting to—I mean, I've been busy, but Undyne cancelled cooking lessons for the day to go on a date with Alphys, so I thought I could…maybe…"

Sans waited, but Papyrus seemed unsure of how to continue. Grinning, Sans finished his brother's sentence for him.

"You've been thinking about asking Princess out on a date?"

"AHH! HOW DID YOU DISCOVER MY PLANS?!" Papyrus wanted to know, pointing an accusing finger at Sans. "HAVE YOU BEEN READING MY DIARY?!"

"You have a diary, bro?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I—I WAS JUST TESTING YOU! NYEH HEH HEH…heh…"

Again, Sans waited until Papyrus calmed down. Sure enough, the tall skeleton brother sighed, flopping onto the couch next to Sans.

"It's just…I don't know how to ask her!" Papyrus admitted. He clutched his skull in between his hands, and Sans had to admit that he felt sorry for his brother—he hadn't seen Papyrus look this lost since the time he tried to figure out how to capture Frisk. "She's so pretty, and when I try to talk to her, I—I get so tongue-tied!"

"I bet your stomach goes into _knots_ too," Sans punned.

"Yes, exactly!" Papyrus exclaimed, and Sans had to fight for control of his punning urges. And it wasn't easy, since Papyrus was apparently too distracted to realize that Sans was punning at him. It was a golden opportunity…but alas, Papyrus was in an actual _bind_ , so Sans was obliged to help him out.

"Why don't you write her a letter then, bro?" Sans suggested.

"A letter? …A letter… A LETTER!" Papyrus jumped to his feet, looking fired up. "AN EXCELLENT IDEA, SANS! OOH, I KNEW MY GREATNESS WOULD RUB OFF ON YOU SOONER OR LATER! THAT SETTLES IT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL WRITE A LETTER TO EXPRESS TO PRINCESS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL!"

Cackling at the top of his lungs, the skeleton rushed off upstairs, and Sans went back to his nap. Or he tried to, anyway, but the occasional frustrated shouts from Papyrus' room were quite distracting. Sans gave up on sleep after the fifth one, and was glad he did, for he got to overhear a particularly entertaining conversation from his brother's room:

"UNDYNE! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! I'm trying to write a letter to Princess t-to ask her on a date…BUT I CAN'T DO IT! PLEASE! TELL ME! How did YOU ask Alphys out for a date in YOUR letter?"

Sans heard a bunch of hums and murmured "I see"s. There was a pause, and then Papyrus exclaimed, "WHAT?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?"

Oh boy. Even though Sans was quite certain a part of Papyrus' innocence was being chipped away by whatever explanation Undyne was giving him, he decided to let it go this one time. If it was truly so unpleasant, Papyrus would just block it out and continue like nothing was wrong. It was just his way.

It took about five hours, which was actually pretty good for Papyrus, but eventually, the tall skeleton brother emerged from his room, looking victorious.

"BEHOLD! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COMPLETED THE LETTER!"

He practically ran down the stairs to shove the envelope in Sans' face. It was addressed, "To Princess, From the Great Papyrus", and had a doodle of a muscular Papyrus in the corner. Sans snorted.

"Can I read it?" He requested, just to tease his brother. He had to hold back his laughter as Papyrus drew the letter back, a look of utmost horror on his bony face.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! In this letter, I have expressed my deepest, most intimate—IT'S PRIVATE!" He ended up shouting, stomping away as Sans snickered into his hoodie. "Now, if you don't mind, I am off to Toriel's to deliver the—!"

Papyrus cut himself off. Concerned, Sans looked up. Their front door was open, and Papyrus was gaping at something on their doorstep, paused stupidly in mid-step. Leaning over to see under his brother's arm, Sans spotted Aeris. She was lowering her fist, looking sheepish.

"Well, I guess that saves me a knock-knock joke," she said, sparing Sans a knowing glance before holding up a spatula. "Anyway, hi. Toriel sent me over to return this."

Papyrus seemed frozen, like a paused video tape. He continued to just gape at Aeris, and Sans could see him sweating, so he got up from the couch, deciding to spare his poor brother.

"Thanks," he said, taking the spatula from Aeris' outstretched hand. It was scrubbed completely clean—typical polite Tori. Tossing the spatula somewhere behind him, Sans nudged Papyrus. "Meanwhile, my brother has something he wants to give you."

Aeris peered curiously up at the tall skeleton brother, but his skull turned completely pink, and he gave Sans a helpless look. Sans gave him another nudge, feeling a little bad, but knowing that Papyrus would regret it if he didn't take this shot. It was now or never.

"Go on, bro. Give it to her."

After a deep, deep, deep breath, Papyrus seemed to regain his composure. "Princess! Th-this is a letter that expresses my deep feelings towards you! Please accept it, and then read it!"

"Oh," Aeris said in surprise, her hand opening automatically to receive the envelope. "Okay. Um, thanks." She began to slit the envelope open with a finger, but Papyrus' hands closed around hers. Sans noticed her flinch.

"NO! NOT HERE!" Papyrus shouted, a hysterical note in his voice. "PLEASE DON'T READ IT HERE, IN FRONT OF ME! PLEASE GO BACK TO TORIEL'S TO READ IT, AND THEN COME BACK AND GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER!"

Aeris blinked up at him. "…You want me to go back…read the letter…and then come back over here…?"

"YES!" Papyrus confirmed, missing the look on Aeris' face that suggested that she might find this troublesome.

"Because I could just call you—" She pointed out, withdrawing the brand new cell phone she'd just gotten from her pocket, a sort of house-warming gift from Toriel, since it seemed Aeris would be staying with her for a while.

"NO, NO, NO!" Papyrus protested, gripping Aeris' slim shoulders and leaning in, looking intense. Sans watched as Aeris's eyes grew wider, and his fingers twitched at the thought of maybe telling Papyrus to ease up and take a step back—"You have to read the letter elsewhere! If I know you're here, reading it, learning about my deepest feelings for you—"

Papyrus turned red and promptly covered his face with his hands, releasing Aeris' shoulders. "NO, NO, NO! I COULDN'T STAND IT! PLEASE GO AWAY AND COME BACK LATER!"

And with that impassioned plea, the tall skeleton slammed the door in Aeris' face. He leaned against the door, covering his face again to agonize for a second…and then, he appeared to go back to normal.

"Well! That was easy!" He chirped, and it was only because Sans was his brother that he could see how rattled that experience had made him. That, and Papyrus was kind of really obvious with his feelings. Sans grinned as he watched Papyrus pluck imaginary lint from his scarf before announcing that he had important business to attend to in his room, and did not want to be disturbed.

"Have fun," Sans called after his brother, knowing full well that Papyrus would no doubt climb into his race car bed and writhe in agonized embarrassment until Aeris returned.

Speaking of Aeris…

Sans moved over to the living room window. He thought he spied her dark ponytail just a moment ago. Sure enough, she was standing under the outcropping of their roof, shivering slightly in the wind as she read Papyrus' letter. Seeing her stuck out in the cold made Sans feel bad. He almost opened the window to invite her in, but as his bony fingers scraped against the glass, Aeris' head whipped around. She pressed a finger to her lips, warning him with her eyes to be quiet before she returned to the letter, eyes zooming across the page. Sans noticed the letter was multiple pages and chuckled to himself. Only Papyrus. Still, he wished Aeris would come in…the cold air couldn't be good for her health…

As if on cue, she began to cough, her body shivering more violently which each cough. Gritting his teeth, Sans slid the window open.

"Come inside, Princess," he suggested, automatically handing a tissue from his pocket over to Aeris. She accepted it gratefully, wiping her mouth free of blood. "Seriously, you look chilled…to the _bone._ "

"Stop it," Aeris huffed at him, giving him that look that was half-dry, half-amused, as if she was working very hard to not find him funny. Sans grinned nonetheless.

"Seems my bro rambles on for a bit there," he noted, nodding to the multi-paged letter in Aeris' hands. She gazed down at the letter, smiling a little.

"Funnily enough, a lot of it is just him stating how great he is." That dryly amused look crossed her face as she cut her gaze to Sans. "I wonder where he gets that large sense of ego from."

"Don't look at me," Sans replied with a shrug. "I'm nowhere near as cool as Papyrus." He gave her a wink. "Though, standing out there, you must be cooler than the both of us combined now."

Aeris gave a sigh and proceeded to ignore Sans, flipping a page of the letter over to read the back. After climbing out of the window to join her, Sans took advantage of her preoccupation, staring at her profile. Maybe it was just him, but he rather felt that she was starting to look better these days, just a little bit. There was more color in her cheeks…though he supposed that was because of the wind outside, but her face didn't look as pinched anymore, like someone had stretched skin too tightly over her bones. But she did have rather strong-looking bones, like Papyrus said. Sans snorted to himself, remembering that Papyrus himself brought this to Aeris' attention not too long ago. She had just blinked at him at first before stating, with a straight face, that she drank a lot of milk to get her bones so strong.

Papyrus hadn't stopped drinking milk since. Sans was fairly certain he was being trolled by Aeris, but hey, the milk was healthy, and it actually was good for him, so Sans let him be. Whatever made him happy.

Snow began to fall, dancing through the air as it made its descent to the ground. Sans was comforted by the snow in winter—it reminded him of their old home in Snowdin. Often, he wondered if things wouldn't just be easier if they went back to the Underground. But then he remembered how it felt to be reset and stuck in the same place for what seemed like forever. That always shut the nostalgia out of his cranium for a while.

Aeris coughed again, and Sans eyed her, but she didn't look up, too absorbed in Papyrus' letter. She was already almost done. Either she was a fast reader…or she was skipping the useless rambling Papyrus had put in the letter. Sans was tempted to read the pages Aeris was done with, but he decided to respect his brother's privacy. After all, this date seemed to mean a lot to him…Aeris seemed to mean a lot to him…

"Huh?"

Sans looked up, startled for a moment. Had he spoken out loud? But Aeris wasn't looking at him, he noted with relief—she had reached the last page of the letter, and was frowning down at it for some reason.

"What's up?" He asked, curious. Aeris folded the letter in half before turning to Sans, a dark eyebrow raised.

"What the hell's the 'Bone Zone'?" She asked, "is that what Papyrus calls his room?"

Sans stared at her. Slowly, his body began to tremble from the effort it took not to laugh out loud. "He did _not_ write that."

"He did!" Aeris unfolded the letter and cleared her throat, reading directly from the letter: "And that is why I, the Great Papyrus, have decided to take you out on a date! It will be an excellent date, and then, because I know you will ask, for I am very great, I, the Great Papyrus, shall send you a formal invitation to…the Bone Zone!" She frowned down at Sans, as if this were his idea. "I repeat: what the hell's the 'Bone Zone'?"

Sans couldn't reply. He was snickering too hard.

"I…I think Undyne might've helped him out with that part…" he admitted, pulling his hoodie up over his mouth to muffle his laughter. Aeris only looked more confused.

"Is this something I need to worry about?"

"Hahaha…ha…no," Sans assured her, sobering up. But just a little. "I'm sure Papyrus has no idea what it's supposed to mean. You can just ignore it."

"What is it supposed to mean?"

Sans grinned lazily up at Aeris. "Figure it out, Princess. I don't have to spell it out for you, do I? I mean, I could…you ready? B-O-N—"

"Shut up, you punny bonehead," Aeris cut him off with a huff that turned into a laugh. Sans grinned, but quickly stopped when the laugh turned into one cough, and then another, and then several. Aeris' laughs sometimes ended up like that…and it took all the fun out of making her laugh.

"I think you've seen enough snow for now," Sans said, pushing off from his lean against the wall and walking past Aeris. "It's time to go inside."

"I'm okay," Aeris huffed, as was her habit after every coughing fit. Sans watched as she used the tissue from earlier to dab at her bloodied lips again. She looked uncomfortable, as she always did when someone was fussing over her. "You don't need to—"

Without thinking, Sans reached out and grabbed Aeris' wrist.

"Aeris. Come inside."

Aeris stared at him. Sans watched her eyes widen, and he wondered what kind of expression he was making to make her look like that. A tense silence passed between them.

"…Okay," Aeris relented at last in a quiet voice. Sans turned away from her, uncomfortably aware of her eyes on the back of his head as he practically dragged her into the house.

Despite the fact that neither of the skeleton brothers could feel the temperature, the house was warm out of courtesy for Frisk, who came to visit often. Sans dropped Aeris' wrist once the door was shut behind them, and went to close the window he'd left open.

"Have a seat," he suggested, waving in the direction of the couch as he passed Aeris to get to the kitchen. He heard Aeris move over to the couch, and began to relax.

There were a couple packets of hot chocolate left over from Frisk and Papyrus' last sleepover. Sans grabbed one of them, filled a mug with hot water, and stirred the concoction together until it looked passable. Dropping the used spoon in the sink, he moved back into the living room, finding Aeris staring at everything around her.

"Never been in here, huh?" He noted, just remembering. After all, they all always hung out at Toriel's house, because she was such a good hostess.

Aeris jumped; apparently she hadn't heard him approach.

"It's, uh, not what I was expecting," she admitted after thanking Sans for the mug he handed her. She took a sip of the hot chocolate and sighed in content, holding the mug between her hands, which were tinted blue. "It's cozy."

"We try," Sans replied with a grin, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch from Aeris. Silence fell between them again as Aeris drank her hot chocolate. Sans was lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out what to do now. He had forced Aeris to come in, but now, he didn't know what to do with her. He didn't really want to be alone with her—he'd been so good about avoiding that, lately. Sans supposed he could let her go back to Toriel's after she finished her hot chocolate…but something was bugging him. He wracked his brain, trying to figure out what it was…

He glanced over, both surprised and unsurprised to find Aeris watching him. She was trying to do it subtly, from her peripheral vision, and she glanced away as soon as Sans met her gaze. That speculative look was in her eyes again.

"So," Sans began, searching frantically for a distraction. His eye sockets fell on Papyrus' letter, sitting on the couch in between them. "My brother's asked you out on a date."

"Looks that way," Aeris answered, looking down at the letter as well. A faint blush began to spread through her face. Sans smirked at the sight.

"What're you gonna tell him?"

She took another sip of hot chocolate before frowning at Sans. "Isn't that between your brother and me?"

"You can think that," Sans allowed with a shrug, "but if you're plannin' on breakin' my brother's heart, I think I have a right to know about that, don't you?"

He half-expected Aeris to come back with something sarcastic, like about how she didn't think skeletons had hearts. But she pursed her lips, eyes turning speculative once again as she looked at him.

"Are brothers normally this protective of each other?"

Sans shrugged. "Isn't that what you do for family? What, you don't have siblings?"

Steel suddenly glinted in Aeris' eyes; she looked away.

"No," she replied, and left it at that. Inwardly, Sans cursed to himself. He had forgotten that family was a sore subject with Aeris. He wondered what she'd had to go through to make her cringe at the mention of 'family'.

"I'm protective of my brother," Sans readily admitted, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring into space. "I have to be—you've seen how he is. If I don't watch out for him…"

He was about to say 'no one else will', but that wasn't strictly true. After all, Undyne was pretty reliable when it came to watching over Papyrus…except for when she was encouraging the trouble he was in…well, when all else failed, there was always Toriel. She was practically the mother of the group anyway.

"What happened to your parents?"

Sans hadn't been expecting the question. It took him by surprise, throwing him forcefully into memories he'd worked so hard to repress—electricity pulsing through machinery, alarms blaring, fire everywhere, a white, bony hand disappearing amongst the wreckage of the building…

"You first," Sans replied, attempting to get his shaking under control by deflecting the question. He glanced over in time to see Aeris' brow pucker before she looked away.

"Maybe we should talk about something else," she replied, setting her empty mug down on the coffee table and folding her arms defensively.

Fine with Sans. "So, about this date with my brother—"

Aeris sighed. "For someone who acts so lazy, you sure are persistent."

"Like a dog with a bone," Sans agreed, and Aeris bit back a snort. "Seriously, though. What's going to happen with that?"

Aeris was silent. Sans watched as she wound a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail around her fingers. He wondered how she even got that mane of hers into a ponytail—it looked like it was kind of hard to tame.

"…I don't know," she admitted after a while. The top row of her teeth pressed into her bottom lip; Sans knew she did this when she was debating something with herself. The sight distracted him for some reason this time, and had to actively make himself focus on the conversation.

"Do you like Papyrus?"

Again, Aeris surprised him. Instead of snorting and laughing off the question, like he expected her to, pink flooded her cheeks, and she looked away, suddenly edgy.

Sans stared. Well…this was interesting.

"I'm waiting, Princess," he teased, grinning at the way her blush deepened, despite the glare she shot at him.

"I don't know, okay?" She huffed, sweeping her ponytail off her shoulder and pushing it back behind her. "How do you know when you like someone, anyway?"

"Haven't you ever had a crush on anyone?"

Her face was completely red now, and she folded her arms defensively again.

"I didn't get out much," she admitted grudgingly, "so it's not like I knew anyone _to_ crush on."

"How about imaginary boyfriends?"

"Sans," Aeris growled, looking annoyed. Sans raised his hands in surrender, though he was chuckling.

"Just asking. You're not giving me much to work with here, Princess."

"Then draw from personal experience," Aeris suggested. She raised a dark eyebrow at Sans and asked, "How did you know when you had a crush on Toriel?"

Sans' grin fell. He felt himself getting hot, and knew that he was blushing. He fought violently against the urge to pull his hood up over his head and teleport somewhere, _anywhere_ else than here. He turned away from Aeris, but he could feel her victorious smirk aimed at the side of his head, gloating over that bullseye. Why did she always have to throw him off-balance like this?

"…" No jokes occurred to the short skeleton. Instead, he sighed, conceding defeat once again. "Who told you?"

"No one," Aeris replied, much to Sans' surprise. She was cradling her chin in her hand, watching him. She still looked faintly smug. "I just pay attention."

Sans didn't believe that. He hadn't done anything in front of Aeris to suggest that he ever had feelings for Toriel…at least, he didn't think so…

"Yeah, well…" Sans scrunched himself up in his hoodie, submerged up to his nasal cavity. "That's not a thing."

"I know." Aeris' voice was gentle, as if she was afraid of hurting Sans' feelings. "You two treat each other like good friends. But sometimes, with the way you two look at each other when the other isn't looking…"

Sans began to sweat. Did Aeris just see everything? Or was it obvious to everyone? If it was the latter, everyone else had the tact not to mention it, but Aeris…

"It wouldn't work out." Sans' voice was hollow at this point. "She has to take care of Frisk…and I have to watch over my brother. That's the way it is."

Aeris didn't try to convince him otherwise. Sans was grateful for that—he had had enough of it from Alphys, who thought the "Soriel" ship was too cute not to be a thing. They sat in silence once more, the seconds ticking by. Sans thought about how much time had passed, and he reckoned it was enough to be plausible for Aeris to return to Toriel's, read the letter, and come back. So the short skeleton stood up, turned towards the staircase and called,

"Papyrus! Princess is here to see you!"

This surprised Aeris into a cough or two. She glared at the cheeky grin Sans was now giving her. "Sans! Why did you—"

Papyrus' door opened. He peeked out, as if afraid of what he would see. When he saw Aeris sitting on the couch, he shuffled awkwardly out of his room, looking embarrassed as he rattled down the stairs. With another furious look at Sans, Aeris stood up to greet him.

"So! You read the whole thing?" Papyrus asked, looking up at Aeris and then away, as if she was a very bright light he couldn't look at for long.

"Yes," Aeris confirmed, looking grave. Papyrus seemed to take that as a bad sign, and his head drooped.

"Well, I understand. After all, your bones are a lot stronger than mine, and though I've been drinking milk every day, you probably want a skeleton with REALLY strong bones. I understand if I'm unable to meet your standards—"

"Papyrus," Aeris cut him off kindly. Sans watched as a small smile lit up her face. "I'd be honored to go on a date with you."

Papyrus froze, his jaw open so wide that Sans was sure it was going to fall off. He grinned as his brother slowly returned to life, staring at Aeris with wide eye sockets.

"R-really? REALLY?! WOWIE! I—I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY IN MY LIFE! THANK YOU! IT WILL BE A GREAT DATE, I PROMISE!"

"I'm sure," Aeris said with a laugh. "But…" Sans watched as she plucked at the skirts of the borrowed dress she wore. "I'm afraid I don't have anything fancy to wear for it."

That was true, Sans realized. Other than the clothes he'd found her in, Aeris had nothing else to her name. She only possessed a couple dresses from Toriel that were mercifully shrunk down to fit Aeris, and one or two outfits from Undyne, who was closer to her size.

"Don't worry about it," Sans spoke up, noticing the troubled look on Papyrus' face. He felt Aeris' eyes on him as he pulled out his cell phone, scrolling down his contact list for a familiar number. "I have a way to take care of that."

Instantly, Aeris was suspicious. "What're you planning?" She demanded to know.

Sans raised the cellphone to his nonexistent ear, giving her a wink.

"Just trust me, Princess."

Aeris' eyes narrowed. She looked like she expected to have a bad time. Sans grinned.


	7. Chapter Seven: Whoops

"You're dead. You are so dead."

"Trust me, if I knew they were bringing him, I wouldn't have come along."

Both Sans and Aeris were wearing similar expressions of disgust, arms folded as they rode in the back of Undyne's monster truck. When Sans had arranged this shopping trip with Undyne and Alphys, Aeris had agreed with relatively good grace. However, neither she nor Sans could have known that someone else was going to be tagging along.

"Ohhh myyy!" Mettaton sighed from beside Aeris when Undyne's truck had pulled into the parking lot of a monster boutique. "Is this _really_ the best we can do? I know _so_ many other clothing stores that would be _perfect_ in the human cities!"

"None of us have human money," Undyne pointed out. Sans was amused to see that she didn't look too pleased with the addition either—must've been Alphys' idea to invite the robot. "And Aeris doesn't want to go to a human clothes shop, do you, Aeris?"

"Nope," Aeris confirmed, ignoring Mettaton's tragic look aimed at her. She nudged Sans in the ribs, who took the hint and hopped out of the truck so she could get out; he got the feeling she didn't really like sitting next to Mettaton for longer than she could help it.

To be fair, it didn't start out this way. Aeris had been reasonably pleased to meet Mettaton, and though Sans was annoyed to discover the robot had been invited, he was at least grateful that Aeris hadn't jumped up and down and nearly lost her head over him, the way Sans knew Papyrus probably would.

But Mettaton had ruined Aeris' good impression of him with the first words out of his mouth.

"Ohhh myyy! Look how _absolutely thin_ you are!" Mettaton exclaimed, actually daring to pinch Aeris' cheek. Sans twitched, irritation flaring, but he kept himself in check. With difficulty.

"Darling, whatever diet you're on, it is _definitely_ working!" Mettaton "complimented", roaming around Aeris like a vulture and taking in every inch of her. Sans twitched again. "You simply _must_ tell me your secret! Not that it would help me—my body is already perfect. But my fans will simply _adore_ the advice! Now tell me: _how_ is it you stay in _such_ great shape?"

Aeris had stared at the robot for a long moment. Her eyelids had lowered dangerously, and Sans remembered thinking, ' _Uh-oh._ ' This was going to end badly. For Mettaton, anyway.

"You wanna know my secret?" She folded her arms, giving Mettaton a deadpan look. "I have a body-ravaging disease. It keeps me malnourished, and it's killing me. That's why I'm so thin."

A very long, awkward silence had followed the declaration. Alphys' uncomfortable laughter broke it after a while.

"Right! Well, um…should we…get going…?"

Sans had thought for a moment that Aeris would refuse to go anywhere with the robot, but she had surprised him by climbing obediently into Undyne's truck. She hadn't been pleased when Mettaton joined her in the back, but Sans climbing in after her seemed to calm her a little. A very quiet car ride had occurred after that, before Aeris' threat occurred in an undertone to Sans.

And now they had arrived in Monster Town. (' _Good name, Asgore_ ,' Sans thought dryly to himself.) It was a quaint little town, nestled in the forests of Mt. Ebott, and was much like the Underground, in that it was inhabited by monsters. Many booming monster businesses had opened up, including a beauty boutique run by a pair of friends named Bratty and Catty. They both greeted the group at the door, openly gawking at Aeris, who studiously avoided their gazes. A bunch of outrageous fashion designs littered the walls of their boutique, and the clothing sizes ranged anywhere from ant size to elephant size. The hard part was figuring out what monster size Aeris was.

"She looks like she might fit into a mushroom size…"

"No way! That's, like, waaay too small! She's clearly Temmie-sized!"

"What?! That's even smaller than the mushroom size! Come on, Bratty!"

" _You_ come on, Catty!"

"Ladies, ladies, please," Mettaton spoke up, posing for no apparent reason other than to get Catty and Bratty's attention—and boy did he have it. Sans swore that they were both drooling rivers just at the sight of the robot. Gross. "Surely we can all come up with the _perfect_ size for Aeris _together!_ "

"Whatever you say, Mettaton!" Catty and Bratty allowed in unison. Sans saw Aeris roll her eyes, and he grinned.

"Why don't you try skeleton size?" He suggested idly. The separate arguments on what would fit Aeris paused, and everyone turned to him in confusion.

"Why skeleton size?" Undyne bothered to ask. Aeris gave Sans a suspicious look, and he winked at her.

"Because she's skin and bones," he joked.

It was super-effective.

"Son of a—" Undyne groaned, stomping so hard the floor rattled ominously.

"Oh dear," Alphys gulped.

"Really now," Mettaton tutted.

"I don't get it," Bratty and Catty said in unison.

But Sans was eagerly awaiting Aeris' reaction. She stared down at him, lips pursed, brow puckered.

"…He's got a point," she admitted after a second. Sans' grin widened. Well, it wasn't the reaction he expected, but then again, was it ever?

Now that they had a size to work with, Catty, Bratty, and Mettaton jumped into action, dragging Aeris away to the appropriate clothing rack to compare clothes on her.

"No, no way! _Nothing_ with white, Bratty! She's already too pale! If we put her in something white, people will think she's a ghost!"

"And _what_ is wrong with ghosts?"

"Um, n-nothing, Mettaton! I was just saying…"

"I'd better go make sure no one ends up fighting anyone," Alphys noted, and she hobbled over to keep the peace between her former friends and her creation. Only Undyne stayed with Sans, and he got the feeling she wanted to talk to him about something…

"Hey," she said not a minute later, glancing down at Sans with her good eye. "Is it true, what Aeris said? Is she…dying?"

Sans' grin faltered. "Don't repeat that to anyone else."

"But…if she's dying, what are we doing?" Undyne huffed, rubbing the back of her blue neck as she watched the fuss over Aeris unfold. "Is it really smart to let Papyrus go on this date with her if she's not gonna be around for a while? Seems kind of cruel to get his hopes up, don't you think?"

Sans had already thought about that. He had asked himself those same questions, over and over again, trying to figure out what was right. Papyrus didn't know that Aeris was dying, only that she was sick, and he believed with all his might that she would get better. To let him go on this date with her would be giving him false hope that he might have a future with her. And that, in its own way, was unbearably cruel.

But on the other hand, this was Aeris' decision. She wasn't in any way deluded about her situation, but she still chose to go on this date. Why? Sans wasn't sure—her reasons were her own. But Sans also knew that Aeris would never intentionally hurt Papyrus. She was always kind when she spoke to him, always indulgent of his dreams…and she actually seemed to really like his spaghetti, which told Sans that she didn't have taste buds. Whether it was to humor him or because she really wanted to, Aeris had agreed to this. So, cruel or not, Sans didn't think there was anything he could do about it. And, strangely enough, he was okay with the idea.

"I think it's just better to let them be happy for now," he responded to Undyne with a mild shrug. "Who're we to stand in the way of true love?"

Undyne seemed to mull over that for a moment. "What makes you think Aeris loves him back? I mean, Papyrus is REALLY obvious with his feelings, but…I'm not so sure about Aeris…"

Sans thought about the way Aeris blushed when he asked if she liked Papyrus. She hadn't exactly confirmed or denied it…but still…

"She cares about him. To some degree," Sans said, sure of this one thing about Aeris, at least. Undyne gave him a curious look, but he chose not to elaborate.

Despite the several different personalities clashing to find a good look for Aeris, they were all agreed in one thing—dresses suited her best. Sans watched as Aeris bore the attention with steely determination, impressed and amused at the same time. She looked like a martyr, with the way they kept throwing dress styles around, trying to figure out what was the best.

"I like this red one," Catty commented, bringing out a simple red dress.

"Oooh, _marvelous,_ " Mettaton enthused. "But I feel like it _needs_ something…"

One of his hands withdrew into his body, to be replaced with a pair of scissors. Catty jumped out of the way as Mettaton grabbed the dress, and for a moment, all that could be seen and heard was furious snipping and scraps of red fabric falling to the ground.

" _Voila!_ " Mettaton cried, giving the dress a shake to get rid of the leftover red fuzz from his impromptu alterations. The dress was now strapless, with a high slit on the left side of it. And it seemed to shimmer in the light…Sans wondered idly if the robot had a glitter function.

"Ooooh! It's BEAUTIFUL!" Catty was practically having kittens about the new dress, and Bratty shed crocodile tears. Aeris looked less than enthused, however.

"No," she said, causing Bratty and Catty to gape at her in shock, "no red."

"But—" Catty began, looking personally offended.

"—It's a gift from _Mettaton!_ " Bratty finished, gawking at Aeris. "How can you turn down _anything_ from Mettaton?!"

Aeris opened her mouth to argue them down, but instead, her coughing took over. This fit was so bad that she nearly doubled over, seeming to have trouble with catching her breath. Sans started forward, one of his bony hands clenched around the packet of tissues he now carried with him at all times, but Undyne got there first. Gripping Aeris by the shoulders, she led her to a chair and helped her sit down, kneeling down next to her and rubbing her back, muttering encouragements. Alphys dithered nearby, looking anxious as she retrieved a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Undyne. The fish lady took it and pressed it into Aeris' free hand. Aeris, once the coughing finally ceased, muttered a thank you and wiped her mouth and hand clean. The handkerchief now stained with blood, she looked up at Mettaton, Bratty and Catty, her eyes challenging.

"No red," she asserted once more. Bratty and Catty exchanged glances, but Mettaton seemed to understand.

"I quite agree," he said, tossing the dress over his shoulder. "Red was _so_ two seconds ago! We need to find you something a lot more suitable!"

As the color argument resumed, Sans watched Undyne and Alphys hover over Aeris. Undyne didn't seem able to laugh it off this time around; her expression was quite serious when she asked if Aeris was all right, and Alphys timidly suggested that maybe going out tonight wasn't a good idea, if Aeris didn't feel up to it.

Aeris gave them both a small smile. Sans saw that there was still blood on her teeth.

"I'm okay," she assured them. She stood up, and while Undyne tensed, as if she was afraid Aeris would fall, the human was quite steady on her feet. The back of her hand brushed against her lips, as if she was still paranoid about blood being there. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick to wash my mouth out. It tastes like pennies."

Sans watched Aeris detour down the side hall of the boutique, her head held high. He had a strange, uncomfortable feeling in his chest, a feeling he hadn't felt for about three years now.

It was the feeling he got when he watched his brother get murdered. It was the feeling he felt as he watched a small, demonic child systematically wipe out every monster that crossed its path. It was the last feeling he felt before his vision failed him after being cut down by the ruthless child, before his body simply faded into nothing but dust.

Sans was feeling helpless.

Slowly, he approached Mettaton, Bratty, and Catty, the three of them still disagreeing over a simple color.

"Hey," he cut in, waiting until they acknowledged him. Looking at the ground, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, Sans continued, "She likes flowers. And the color yellow. Try something like that. But nothing gold," he warned, thinking that Aeris would probably hate anything with a golden flower on it.

Mettaton peered down at Sans with an unreadable expression. After a moment, however, his self-confident smirk returned.

"Very well! Something with yellow flowers! _This_ I can work with!"

Sans left them to it, exiting the shop. He needed some air.

In between the step outside and the next, Sans found himself at the cliff he'd found Aeris on, where he first learned her true name. He sat down on the outcropping she had sat upon, looking over the ocean. The view was gorgeous—the sun was in the middle of its arc across the sky, and it threw glittering rainbows across the waves below. Sans stared out into the distance, not seeing any of it.

This was not okay. He was not okay. He already had enough to worry about, with constantly watching over Papyrus and warding Mettaton away, monitoring Frisk to be sure nothing went…wrong, and the constant, never-ending fear that it would all just disappear the minute Sans dared to relax. Why had this happened? Why did he feel…responsible, almost _obligated_ , to also watch over this human he barely even knew? Didn't he have enough to deal with already?

And to make matters worse, the human was dying. Aeris had refused any and all attempts Toriel tried to persuade her to seek medical help, stating that she had already tried everything, to no avail, and she wouldn't hear any more of it. And if Toriel couldn't convince her, Sans was pretty sure nothing anyone else said would make a difference.

And worse still, Papyrus had a crush on the dying human. It was the absolute worst situation Sans could've found himself in. …Well, maybe not the _absolute_ worst, but still, it was up there. Sans didn't want to have to see the look on Papyrus' face when he realized the human he liked so much was not long for this world. He didn't want to see Papyrus struggle with the fact that there was nothing any of them could do about it. And then…when Aeris finally died…

Sans's hands clenched into fists in his pockets. He hated this. Papyrus shouldn't ever have to experience this kind of pain. Sure, Frisk would grow old and probably die before any of them…but that wouldn't be for years and years to come. Sans would worry about that when the kid began to grow gray hair. For right now, his primary problem was Papyrus' growing feelings for Aeris, feelings that would only continue to grow if this date went well. What was he thinking? He never should've allowed this. He should've thought of an excuse, a distraction, anything to keep Papyrus away from Aeris. He had had years of practice of keeping the stupid robot away, surely he could do it with a human who couldn't walk two feet without hacking her lungs up—

Aeris' smile flashed across Sans' mind. He sighed heavily.

Who was he kidding? If this date with his brother made her happy, Sans didn't dare interfere. If anything, Aeris deserved to be happy now because she was dying. Just like when he found her in the snow, he couldn't just let her be, but now, instead of pity, it was because, somehow, she had busted through all his defenses and had become his friend.

That was the real reason he was trying to distance himself. Because, when Aeris died, it would hurt him as much as it would hurt Papyrus. Maybe even more.

The cell phone in his pocket vibrated. It was a text from Undyne.

" _Hey, get back over here!_ " It demanded. " _We need your help with something!_ "

Sans sighed. What now?

Getting to his feet, Sans teleported back to the boutique. He shouldered past the door, noticing that everyone was gathered in a corner of the boutique. Starting to feel nervous, because he couldn't see Aeris, Sans picked up the pace.

"Hey, what's going—"

"There you are! About time!" Undyne exclaimed, turning back to look at Sans with an indignant expression. "None of these punks can make up their minds! So, as Papyrus' brother, you have the executive vote."

"And my opinion apparently counts for nothing," said Aeris' voice from somewhere in the middle of the mob. She sounded so disgruntled that it made Sans relax, his regular grin in place.

"Executive vote on what, exactly?" He bothered to ask. "Come on. Someone tell me all a- _ballot_."

There was a collection of groans, sighs, and someone said "Really?" loudly. Alphys recovered first, and she shuffled everyone else to the side.

"Anyway, what do you think? Up or down?"

Sans was working on a direction pun based on that vague question, but the words got stuck in his non-existent throat. As Alphys stepped aside, he finally got a clear view of Aeris.

And, well… _wow._

The dress she wore was simple: white, despite the protests of Aeris being too pale for white earlier, with a design of large sunflowers printed on it. Bratty was holding a brush, and Catty was holding Aeris' thick mane of dark hair up, making sure none of it got tangled where the top of the dress tied closed at the base of her neck. Aeris was pouting, which drew attention to her pink lips, emphasized with lipstick, and the rouge added to her cheeks gave her a healthy, glowing look.

She was absolutely radiant. And yet, somehow, still Aeris.

"Like, how do you even deal with this?" Bratty asked, dropping Aeris' hair with a huff. "It's, like, waaay too troublesome."

"And it broke two of our combs!" Catty wailed.

"Nobody told you to comb it," Aeris grumbled with a sour look.

"Ladies, ladies," Mettaton quelled, striking another magnificent pose. "There's no need to fuss. We might have a hair dilemma on our hands, but it's nothing I can't solve, I promise you."

Hearts appeared in Bratty and Catty's eyes. "Of course not, Mettaton! You're the greatest!" They exclaimed in unison.

"I'm leaving," Aeris decided abruptly, beginning to get up from the stool she was perched on, but Undyne made her sit back down with a firm yet gentle hand.

"Not yet, punk! We've gotta decide what to do with your hair first!" She turned Aeris so that she was facing Sans. "Well, Sans? Whaddya think?"

Think? Sans wasn't sure he was capable of thinking anymore, honestly. It was like something in his brain had short-circuited, and he was scrambling around inside his own skull, trying to fix the madness. As he struggled with himself, he could also feel Aeris watching him, as if her gaze now had physical weight. At first she appeared confused, and slightly worried, the longer Sans stayed silent. But then her brow began to pucker, silver eyes beginning to speculate. As he watched, they widened an inch, and then another, and a genuine blush began to spread through her face. Strangely enough, Sans' own face felt hot in response.

Shit.

"…I don't see the dilemma," he forced himself to comment at last, shrugging what he hoped seemed like a careless shrug. "If you're _splitting hairs_ , why not just put half of it up and half of it down?"

"Half…oh! That's _brilliant!_ " Mettaton exclaimed, "why didn't _I_ think of that?!"

Swiftly, he plucked a bunch of fake yellow flowers from a bouquet that was on display in the boutique and returned to Aeris, armed with said flowers and several bobby pins. Sans watched as Aeris gritted her teeth while Mettaton's fingers raked through her hair, placing bobby pins at strategic points, rolling thick locks of her hair into twists that melded into a bun at the back of her head. He withdrew an MTT-brand hair spray bottle and sprayed nearly the whole bottle into Aeris' hair (Alphys helpfully held a cloth to Aeris' face to prevent another coughing fit), and then arranged the flowers in the bun and twists so that it appeared that Aeris had a yellow garden growing out of her hair.

" _Voila!_ " Said Mettaton for the second time that day, sparkling with glee as he handed Aeris a mirror so she could see the effect for herself. "No need to thank me, my dear. This is simply all in a day's work."

Sans watched, strangely anxious as Aeris inspected her reflection. She looked surprised by something.

"…It looks great," she admitted, and relief flooded the short skeleton.

"Of course it does! I _am_ amazing!" Mettaton said, striking yet another dramatic pose.

"It was Sans' idea," Undyne reminded the snobby robot with a roll of her eye. Patting Alphys' head, she added, "Didn't I tell you it was a good idea to ask him? He ended up suggesting the perfect dress too, didn't he?"

Aeris looked up at this, blinking in surprise. "You did?" She asked Sans.

He shrugged again, trying not to meet her eyes. "I suggested the flowers and the color. I didn't actually pick out the dress."

Aeris' fingertips glided over the skirt of the dress, idly tracing the sunflower petals.

"I love it," she said quietly, glancing up at Sans with a smile that was almost shy. "Thank you."

 _Shit._

"No problem," he mumbled, pulling his hood up as he turned away from her. He left them to babble behind him—Mettaton had apparently just found out that this date was meant for Papyrus, and was throwing a downright tantrum while Alphys tried to appease him. Undyne resolved the matter by flinging the robot into a wall, which Sans approved of—it meant he didn't have to stick around and do any problem-solving himself.

Right now, all he wanted to do was take a long walk. He apparently had a lot of things to think about now, but one thought was in the forefront of his perturbed mind:

Sooner than he would like, he was going to have a bad time. And it was all Aeris' fault.


	8. Chapter Eight: The Date

"HERE WE ARE!" Papyrus announced as he walked Aeris to the front of the restaurant. He made a show of holding the door open and bowing her in, which made her laugh.

"Really, Papyrus, you don't have to—whoa," she gasped, wobbling in her new white heels. Papyrus grabbed her arms to steady her.

"Are you all right, Princess?" He asked, giving her a concerned look as she finally regained firm footing. She gave him a smile that was a little pained.

"I'm fine, I promise. …Just that a crocodile and a cat forced me into a pair of death traps that I told them I didn't want to wear," she added in an undertone as she was led forward, Papyrus keeping a careful grip on her elbow and looking thoroughly delighted about it.

"Gee, that sounds like a set-up to one of my brother's awful jokes," Papyrus noted as they waited in the restaurant's queue for the host.

"Does it?"

"Yeah." Papyrus cleared his throat, dropping it several pitches. "'Hey, Papyrus, so a crocodile, a cat, and a human walk into a bar…' And then he'll say some terrible pun that makes me smile because it's so awful!"

A smile tugged at the corners of Aeris' mouth. "Would the punchline happen to be…'the skeleton ducks'?"

Papyrus gaped at her. "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?! Oh NO, don't tell me he told you that joke, too! I AM SO SORRY YOU HAD TO BE SUBJECTED TO THAT, PRINCESS!"

Aeris hid her growing smile behind a hand. "No, I haven't heard it. It just seems like something he'd say."

"It is! But I don't get it—what does a duck have to do with the story? Sometimes he makes no sense!"

Aeris laughed and chatted with Papyrus easily, seemingly unaware of the several pairs of eyes that were aimed in their direction.

"I really don't think this is a good idea…"

"Oh come on, Alphys! How often do we get to watch PAPYRUS on a date? This is better than any love interest on Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!"

Alphys gave a gasp like she had been mortally wounded. " _I don't even know you anymore,_ " she whispered, covering her face with her hands. Undyne looked uncomfortable, but before she could do anything to rectify the situation, a loud 'hmph!' sounded beside them.

"Honestly," Mettaton huffed, thoroughly failing to blend in with the crowd in his faulty disguise of sunglasses and a feather boa, "I don't know _what_ Papyrus sees in her!"

"Well," Toriel spoke up from the next table over, taking a break from hiding behind her menu as Frisk doodled idly with the crayons they were given, "he _does_ seem to like her bone structure…"

"Bone structure? _Bone structure?_ Who needs _bone structure_ when you've got legs like—OW!"

In the middle of his twirl to show off his legs, Mettaton was suddenly levitated into the air, and then fell back to the floor with a resounding crash. The patrons and the workers in the restaurant glanced over, and then went back to their business, as if this was a normal, everyday occurrence.

"I think that was your warning," said Undyne, barely concealing her glee as Mettaton struggled back into his seat, in full pout mode.

Toriel glanced over, momentarily catching Sans' eye before he ducked back behind the pillar he had selected as his sentry station for the night. Honestly, he should've just thrown the stupid robot out the window, but they were supposed to be incognito. Right before the date, Papyrus had apparently begged everyone he knew to come chaperone, so he didn't mess anything up. Mettaton hadn't been invited, but had showed up anyway, and Sans had only allowed him to stay on the condition that he wouldn't make trouble.

So far, he was on Strike One, and the date hadn't even officially started yet. Pathetic.

Gritting his teeth, Sans watched as Aeris and Papyrus were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant, a good distance away from the rest of them. Now, as long as no one drew any attention to them, they should be fine…which would honestly be a miracle, in Sans' opinion.

True enough, as soon as he thought that, Aeris, who was looking around at the restaurant, gazed in their direction. Toriel quickly hid behind her menu, but her size gave her away…that, and Frisk had noticed Aeris' gaze and had given her a big thumbs up. Looking bemused, Aeris' eyes swept that side of the restaurant, and Sans sighed to himself when she caught sight of Mettaton, who was glaring daggers at her over his sunglasses.

Sans huffed again and pulled out his cell phone. Time to do some damage control.

Over at their table, Aeris' phone began to buzz in the purse she borrowed from Alphys. She glanced down at it with a frown. Who was that? Everyone she knew was aware that she was on a date right now, so shouldn't they know better than to call or text her?

The buzzing stopped, and then picked up again. Frowning, Aeris reached for her purse, but then hesitated, looking up at Papyrus.

"I'm sorry…do you mind? I just want to turn it off…"

"Go ahead," Papyrus allowed with a wave of his hand, and he went back to perusing the menu, which had a lot of pasta options he had never even heard of before. Smiling at the way he was laughing delightedly to himself, Aeris unclasped the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie collector's bag, still astonished that Alphys had let such a precious thing out of her sight. But the triceratops had claimed that it would give Aeris luck on her date, so Aeris was really in no position to turn it down.

She fished out her cell phone, meaning to press the power button to turn it off, but was promptly distracted by Sans' name on the screen. With a guilty glance at Papyrus, she opened the texts.

' _hey._ '

' _we're not here right now._ '

' _ignore us._ '

Aeris blinked, glancing back over where she'd seen Toriel, Frisk, Undyne, Alphys, and for some reason, Mettaton. She hadn't seen Sans with them…but he must be, otherwise, why was he texting her?

Abruptly, she spotted him, hidden beside a pillar near Toriel and Frisk. He gave her a small wave and a cheeky grin. Aeris scowled. With another glance at Papyrus, she texted him back, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her cell phone.

Sans' cell phone chimed, and he pulled it back out of his pocket to eye the message.

' _What. Are. You. Doing?_ '

Uh-oh. She wasn't pleased with him right now. She probably thought they were spying. …Well, they were, actually. But not for the reasons she probably suspected.

Shrugging it off as best as he could, Sans replied.

' _pap's feeling nervous about this date._ '

' _he called us in for moral support._ '

' _so pretend you don't know we're here._ '

Aeris' frown softened. So this was Papyrus' idea? Hmm…it made sense, she supposed. He was really nervous and jumpy when he came to pick her up, but then seemed to relax as soon as they got to the restaurant. It must've set him at ease, knowing his friends had his back. That was actually really sweet.

"Um…"

Aeris jumped, looking up at Papyrus, who was giving her a sheepish expression.

"I'm sorry. Are you…bored?" He asked. With a guilty start, Aeris realized she'd been glued to her cell phone for the past three minutes.

"Nope," she said, hastily pressing the power button on her phone and dropping it into her purse. "I just got distracted for a minute. Won't happen again, sorry."

Papyrus was still looking awkward, so Aeris decided to give him a nudge in the right direction. "So, you never finished telling me the story of how you all escaped the Underground. You left off at the part where Mettaton was in a dress or something?"

"Oh, I _loved_ that part! I was simply _fabulous_ , don't you think?"

"Shut _up_ , you loud hunk of metal!"

Papyrus glanced around; though he knew his friends were supposed to be here, he apparently didn't know where they were. "Did you hear something?"

"Nope," Aeris lied with a forced grin. "Anyway, you were talking about this puzzle Frisk had to solve…?"

"OH, YES!" Papyrus recalled, and he launched into this epic tale about a puzzle with random tiles that would produce different results when stepped on. Aeris was a really good audience, Sans noted—she gasped, laughed, and cheered at all the right parts, and was polite enough to remind Papyrus of where he left off when he got distracted by the food, the other monsters, or Aeris' face. She hardly coughed the whole date, which was a blessing, since it meant Papyrus wouldn't be tripping over himself to help her, since he already seemed to be having a tough enough time keeping it together. And Mettaton had to be constantly reminded that Sans was there, for he frequently jumped out of his chair, as if he were about to storm over and break up the date himself. When Papyrus' hand finally inched all the way over from his side of the table, the tips of his bony fingers brushing Aeris' fingertips, Mettaton nearly exploded in a jealous rage. He jumped up, but only had to glance over at Sans, whose left eye was flaring in warning. Rather than sit back down, however, Mettaton stormed from the restaurant, apparently fed up. Alphys rushed off to calm him, and Undyne rushed off after Alphys, leaving Toriel, Frisk, and Sans to watch over Papyrus.

But Papyrus didn't seem to need any help at all, Sans noticed. Even when he stumbled over his own tongue and made a fool of himself, Aeris was patient and kind. And when he finally got up the nerve—not that skeletons had nerves—to touch her hand, Aeris smiled, her eyes shining as she laced her fingers with his. That got Papyrus overexcited, and she had to talk him down for about twenty minutes before he actually settled down.

Sans gazed at Aeris' face, flushed with happiness as she laughed at Papyrus' bashfulness. Pulling his hood up, the short skeleton left the restaurant.

Toriel and Frisk had Papyrus covered if anything went wrong. There was no reason for Sans to be there. No reason at all.

Hours later, Sans was sitting on the couch in his living room. The TV was on, but there was nothing good on, so he just sat there, staring blankly at the screen.

Papyrus should be home by now. Was the date going so well that he intended to stay out all night? Or had something gone wrong, causing him to disappear and sulk for a while before trudging back home?

Sans vacillated between the rock and the hard place, fighting with himself to either stay put, or go find Papyrus. He didn't want to arrive too late if his brother needed his help…but what if he and Aeris were just having a good time, and Sans interrupted? Papyrus would never forgive him. …Well, yes he would. But still.

The short skeleton sighed, sinking down into his hoodie as he thought about Aeris. She seemed genuinely happy on the date…did that mean she liked Papyrus? How should Sans know? It wasn't like she ever answered him when he asked, and though she always expressed herself honestly, she was still so hard to read. It was disorienting, like looking through a clear window pane, but seeing nothing but light that was too bright to make out anything distinctive. A month later, and he still had no idea how to deal with her. Sans felt like a failure.

Her expression from earlier in the boutique flashed through his mind: eyes widening, face turning pink. What had she been thinking when she was looking at him then? And, more importantly, what kind of expression was he making to make her look like that in the first place?

The doorknob rattled.

' _Finally,_ ' Sans thought, getting to his feet. He'd tease Papyrus a little about his date if his brother was in a good mood, and then he'd head to bed. For some reason, today had exhausted him.

"Just a second!" He heard Papyrus call through the door, and Sans froze where he was. Who was he talking to…?

"Is it stuck?" Queried a second voice, and Sans began to sweat. Oh no.

"No, it's just—being—DIFFICULT!" With that loud shout, the door finally popped open, taking Papyrus with it. He swung forward and fell on his face, only to jump up a moment later, rubbing the back of his head. "Nyeh heh heh…well, the door's open!"

"So I see," Aeris replied, looking amused as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She glanced around the living room, eyes falling on the TV. "…Is Sans here?"

"What?" Papyrus looked at the TV too, and he immediately scowled. "SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! TURN OFF THE TV IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WATCH IT! ELECTRICITY DOESN'T GROW ON TREES, YOU KNOW!"

Papyrus waited, but there was no response. "Hmm. He must not be home. He must have been too lazy to turn the TV off before he left!" The tall skeleton surmised. As he shuffled over to turn it off himself, Aeris' eyes traveled around the apartment. They gazed up at Papyrus's door…and then at Sans'. The short skeleton shifted back from the door, determined not to be seen. He only had the door open a crack so he could see, but now he was wondering if it was such a good idea. He waited a couple minutes, daring to peek out again. Aeris was no longer looking in his direction, but her lips were pursed. Sans got the nasty feeling that she knew he was here.

"So! This is me and Sans' house!" Sans watched as Papyrus rubbed the back of his head, blushing pink. "But, I, uh, guess you knew that…"

Aeris smiled. "Could I have a tour?" She suggested.

"SURE!" Papyrus tripped over himself to oblige her, leading her first to the kitchen, where he explained, loudly and unnecessarily, all of the features of said kitchen. They returned to the living room, and Papyrus listed all of the things present in there before moving onto the bathroom, which they had consented to add to their new house for Frisk's use. As they made their way up the stairs, Sans' feeling of unease grew. He really shouldn't be here right now. He should teleport somewhere else, spend some time at Grillby's II, and just be anywhere but here, really. He didn't want to hear just how well this date was going. It felt like an invasion of privacy, not to mention that hearing how much fun Aeris and his brother were having was doing strange things to Sans—

"And this is my brother's room!" Papyrus announced right outside the door, making Sans jump. He accidentally fell against the door, making it click closed. There was an uncomfortable pause outside the door.

"Does it…always close by itself?" Was Sans imagining the barely-there amusement in Aeris' voice?

"It's never done that before," Papyrus admitted, though he sounded unconcerned. "But Sans is weird, so his room is also weird! You don't wanna go in there—it's a mess, trust me. There are socks EVERYWHERE!"

Sans gritted his teeth in annoyance. He told Papyrus not to say anything about his socks.

Not daring to move, the short skeleton listened as their footsteps traveled away, towards Papyrus' room.

"And this is…" Sans heard Papyrus pause dramatically, and had a feeling he knew what was coming next… "THE BONE ZONE!"

Sans heard Aeris snort. "So that _is_ what you call your room?"

"Er…not really. That's what Undyne wants me to call it, though. I don't really get why. I think it's a bad skeleton pun she might've heard from my brother."

"I see," Aeris giggled.

"So, er…do you wanna…come inside? I can show you my figurines, or my race car bed?"

Sans pressed his skull to the door, not liking the silence that fell between them. If only he could see what was going on…but he couldn't open his door again without either of them noticing. Damn it.

Just as he was getting really anxious, Aeris spoke. "Um…maybe another time. I'd rather just sit on the couch and talk. If you don't mind."

"Oh, sure!" Papyrus didn't sound too disappointed. Sans was relieved by that. Yes, just relieved that his brother hadn't been shot down. That was the only reason he was breathing easier right now.

Their footsteps traveled down the stairs. Carefully, very carefully, Sans eased his door open again, just enough for one of his eye sockets to peek out.

Aeris had taken a seat with her back to him. This was mildly disappointing—it meant that Sans would have to judge her expression by the tone of her voice alone. Great. At least he could see Papyrus, but his brother was so easy to read that Sans could tell what he was thinking through the wall that separated their rooms.

The tall skeleton sat facing Aeris. Sans could see him fidgeting, trying to think of something to say. Dear, sweet, bumbling Papyrus.

"…So," he began, glancing at Aeris' face, away, and back again. "Did you have a good time?"

"I had a great time," Aeris emphasized, and Sans could hear her smiling. "Did you know that that was my first date ever?"

Papyrus' eye sockets nearly popped out of his skull. "R-REALLY?! THAT WAS YOUR FIRST DATE _EVER?_ A-AND YOU WANTED TO SPEND IT—WITH _ME?!_ "

Aeris laughed at his reaction, coughing a little at the tail end. Papyrus looked concerned, but she waved it off. "Of course. Why wouldn't I want to spend it with you?"

"R-RIGHT! Why not?! After all, I AM very great! Nyeh heh heh heh…"

' _Her dating power is off the charts,_ ' Sans thought wryly, watching his brother blush. Really, if Papyrus became any more smitten, he was going to become insufferable.

"Th-then…since you had a great time—and since I am very great—I, the Great Papyrus, have something to ask you!"

Aeris waited. So did Sans, his non-existent nerves tingling. Was Papyrus going to ask what Sans thought he was going to ask…?

"…Yes?" Aeris prompted when Papyrus didn't say anything at first, shifting around so much that his bones rattled.

"Ahem. Yes, well…I, the Great Papyrus, wanted to ask you…wanted to ask you…"

"Wanted to ask me…what?" Aeris pressed again as the tall skeleton lapsed into silence.

"Please don't rush me," he requested, turning red again as he rubbed the back of his skull.

"Sorry," Aeris apologized, "I'll wait."

And she did. She waited patiently as Papyrus tried and failed to stutter his way through his question. Finally, when he seemed to get his tongue untied, the tall skeleton cleared his throat and asked, "Princess, I, the Great Papyrus, would like to ask you…to be my girlfriend!"

Sans took in the silence. He felt something inside him plummet, and suddenly, he felt horrible. He really shouldn't be listening to this. He shouldn't be intruding on such a private moment. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear what answer Aeris would give Papyrus. It wasn't his business. He had nothing to do with this. He—

Suddenly, the front door burst open. Aeris was startled into a coughing fit, and Papyrus cried, "WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Ohhh myyy!" Crowed a familiar voice, and Sans snapped back to himself, peering through the crack in the door again. Sure enough, to his great annoyance, there stood a flamboyant robot in his living room, with a camera crew. Mettaton had arrived.

"Did you hear that at home, folks? Such an _impassioned_ confession! How _will_ the human respond?! Let's watch the drama unfold, shall we?"

That's it. The robot was dead.

Sans threw open his door, but no one was paying attention to him—Mettaton was too busy waving the cameraman forward, shoving the lens into Aeris' face.

"Go on, then, darling," Mettaton encouraged, a sickly sweet smile on his face, "pretend we're not even here!"

"W-WOWIE!" Papyrus exclaimed, eye sockets wide as he took in the madness. "METTATON IS HERE, IN MY HOUSE, FILMING MY LOVE CONFESSION! I-I'M SO HONORED!"

Mettaton's expression twitched, his smile looking painful now.

"That's right! We have come to watch you capture the heart of this _plain-looking_ human!" Mettaton announced, and Sans rolled his eyes at the petty jealousy in the robot's voice. "Well, go on, honey! The crowd at home is waiting!"

Aeris, however, didn't seem to care much about the crowd. She placed her hand on the lens, blocking the camera from seeing anything, completely ignored Mettaton, and turned to Papyrus.

"Papyrus," she began calmly, though there was a note of steel in her voice, "I'd rather talk about this with you in private."

"Oh myyy! Could this be a _reje_ —mmph!" Mettaton was cut off by Aeris shoving her hand in his face next. He was in mid-twirl, so when she shoved him, he fell over dramatically. "Oh, the _humanity!_ " He groaned, causing his camera crew to crowd around him. The cameraman attempted to keep filming, but suddenly found the camera out of his grasp. He watched, dumbstruck as it flipped through the air and crashed to the floor, ruined.

"Whoops," Sans said, suddenly right beside the cameraman. "Sorry 'bout that. My hand must've slipped." His grin grew frightening, his left eye flaring with blue light. "I was aiming for your head."

The cameraman seemed to think that whatever Mettaton paid him wasn't worth this, because he fled a moment later, yelping in a frightened manner. Mettaton was still laid out on the floor, being a drama queen with his crew around him, but Sans ignored them for the moment. Aeris had taken Papyrus' hand and led him away into the kitchen, away from the madness. Sans stood beside the doorway, keeping out of sight, and listened.

"Papyrus," Aeris began, and her tone was incredibly kind, "I am so flattered that you feel that way about me. I'm very happy. …But…"

Papyrus sighed. "This is because my bones aren't strong enough, isn't it?"

Aeris laughed a little. "No, it isn't that at all. I like your bones, Papyrus. I like you. It's just…I don't think I know you well enough to be your girlfriend yet."

"Oh." There was a pause, and Papyrus spoke, his voice tentatively hopeful. "Then…if you _get_ to know me well enough—"

"Then ask me again," Aeris said, and Sans could hear the smile in her voice, "in about six months, if you need a time limit."

"Six months? Very well! I, the Great Papyrus, will show you all there is to know about being me! And then, in six months' time, I will ask you to be my girlfriend again! Look forward to it, Princess! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Like the proper gentleman that he was, Papyrus offered to walk Aeris home. Sans hid when they exited the house, emerging only when he was sure they were gone. He stood in the hallway for a moment, irresolute. On the one hand, he was glad that Aeris hadn't turned Papyrus down completely. She had given his brother hope that she might return his affections one day, and that would keep his spirits up, even if the initial rejection was a bit disappointing.

But…on the other hand…

Mettaton's overdramatized groans cut through Sans' thought process. Abruptly, he remembered that the robot was in his house. Without permission.

Walking down at his leisure, he stepped over to the crew, where Mettaton was now willing his possessions to…no one, actually. He was requesting to be buried with all his possessions, and was giving them an extensive list when Sans arrived. As if sensing the skeleton's presence, Mettaton cut himself off, his expression becoming more and more fearful the higher his eyes traveled, until they were locked on Sans' glowing eye sockets.

"Welp," Sans began, raising his hand, which was encased in blue fire, his grin becoming manic, "looks like the show's over for you, buddy."

And he then proceeded to take out the trash.


	9. Chapter Nine: Transparent

Aeris shivered in the wind, drawing her new scarf more closely around her. Thank goodness Undyne and Alphys had taken her shopping for normal clothes right after that disastrous boutique visit. Sure, she loved the sunflower dress, but it was so much more comfortable to be in a simple sweater and jeans. Undyne had picked out most of her winter wardrobe, and Aeris was impressed to find that the fish lady had surprisingly good taste.

Her breath came out in a misty puff as she watched the night sky, the stars winking at her from far away, as if they, too, were in on her secret nighttime excursion. Toriel would be most displeased if she knew that Aeris was out and about, but Aeris had the feeling that Toriel wouldn't notice that she was missing anytime soon—her evenings had been preoccupied lately, spent on the computer chatting with someone after Frisk was put to bed. Aeris suppressed a smile, thinking of the way Toriel had flushed when Frisk had complained that her loud laughter from the living room had woken them up the other night. Whoever she was speaking to must be someone very special.

Aeris let her feet dangle over the edge of the cliff, leaning back on her mitten-clad hands. She'd go back to Toriel's soon enough. She just had to be out for a bit tonight, to think. And she also had the feeling that she'd be meeting someone out here soon as well—

"Shouldn't you be in Dreamland, Princess?"

Aeris jumped, then grinned a knowing grin to herself before she turned, glimpsing the short skeleton over her shoulder. She always envied how the cold never seemed to bother Sans—he always wore the same thing: a lazy grin, that blue hoodie, which could not be thick enough to block out the wind, that white turtleneck, those black basketball shorts, and those pink, fuzzy bedroom slippers. He had questionable taste in fashion when it came to himself, but apparently, when it came to her…

"I really wish you'd stop sneaking up on me like that," she told him as he approached, taking a seat beside her. He shrugged and grinned up at her, as if he knew something she didn't.

"Not my fault if you don't pay enough attention to notice me, Princess," he replied, making Aeris roll her eyes. He knew damn well paying attention had nothing to do with it. Stupid teleporting skeleton. Hands in his pockets, Sans eyed her, the strange light in his eye sockets glinting. "So what're ya doin' out here—"

"All by my _bone_ some?" Aeris cut across him, giving him a look. "You've told that one already."

Sans' grin widened. "I see. In that case, I should probably _bone_ up on my material."

Aeris fought against her smile. "You punny bonehead."

"It's a living," he said with a shrug. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, watching the stars. Somehow, this felt normal to Aeris, though it had only occurred twice now…and the first time, she wasn't in the best place, mentally.

She frowned, thinking about how far she had come after that. How it became routine for her to spend all this time with these monsters. Playing with Frisk, reading with Toriel, gardening with Asgore, watching TV shows with Undyne and Alphys, eating Papyrus' spaghetti, listening to Sans' terrible jokes…it felt right. Like family. Home.

Aeris let out a short laugh. Funny how she'd never felt this way anywhere else. And yet, here she was, perfectly at ease with a group of monsters. Life really was strange.

"Something funny?"

"Not really. Just thinking about my life here. It's been nice." She lowered her gaze to her lap, smiling wistfully. "I never thought I'd ever have such good friends."

Sans seemed to have nothing to say to that. Odd—he usually had a joke or two to deliver when it got too quiet. But lately, the jokes had been coming less and less. Aeris wondered if anything was wrong. Then she wondered if he would even tell her if she asked. Sans was a character, but he definitely kept his cards close to his chest. It was hard to read him…if one didn't know how…

"I never did apologize," Aeris abruptly realized. She glanced over, cringing at Sans. "When I first met you all, I called you monsters."

Sans shrugged. "We are monsters," he pointed out. But Aeris shook her head.

"No. You're not. Not really." She glanced away from him, into the dark sea below. Images flashed through her mind—broken beakers, mountains of pills, a man and woman screaming at each other at the top of their lungs, looking like they were at the ends of their ropes—

Aeris gritted her teeth. "I know real monsters. You guys aren't it."

She saw Sans looking at her from her peripheral vision, his grin lessening. She didn't look over at him. She had gotten used to him watching her, though she could only guess at the reasons why...and she was pretty confident in her guesses. But this…this was something she didn't want him to see. This darkness was hers, and hers alone.

The wind blew past, and Aeris shivered again, coughing harshly. She fished out a tissue from her pocket and coughed into it, hacking up blood once again. The fit passed, and she balled the tissue up, stuffing it back into her jacket pocket. Aeris looked out at the horizon and waited, expecting Sans to assert that it was time for her to head inside, his expression uncharacteristically serious, the lights in his eye sockets disappearing for a frightening moment—

He didn't say anything. He just sat there, and the silence between them was a little more tense than usual.

"…Hey," he finally spoke. Aeris looked over at him, half-expecting a shitty joke to pass through the short skeleton's teeth. But he seemed serious for once, gazing down at his lap. "…Thanks," he said after another moment, glancing over at Aeris. "For letting my bro down easy earlier."

"Oh." Aeris flushed. That was a topic she hadn't been expecting. She glanced away from Sans, out at the horizon again. "Uh, no problem. Guess I should've realized you were listening."

"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry, but Aeris let it go. "So. You really do like my brother, huh?"

Aeris smiled at that, wondering if Sans was fishing for information for his brother…or for someone else. "I do. But not in the way you're thinking."

"No?"

"Nope." Aeris swung her legs a little, keeping her eyes on the sky. "Like I said. I don't know him well enough yet."

Sans was silent. Aeris let him be, counting the stars. She always lost track at thirty-three, for some reason.

"…Do you think you'll be around long enough to get to know him?"

Aeris sobered at that. "I don't know."

Sans shifted beside her. Aeris wondered if he was uncomfortable.

"I know Tori's brought this up a lot," he began gruffly, and Aeris began to frown, "but what if—"

"No, Sans."

"If medicine helps—"

"It just prolongs the inevitable," Aeris cut across him. She could hear the bitterness in her voice as she said, "There's no cure. There's nothing you can do. Let it go."

"You're awfully defensive about this," he noted. Aeris sighed, folding her arms.

"If you must know, I've already watched people kill themselves trying to 'cure' me. I'm not eager to go through it again."

Silence.

"Is that what happened to your parents?" Sans guessed. Aeris' eyes tightened, and she still refused to look at him. But she gave a short nod, confirming his theory.

He sighed. "No wonder you don't like to talk about it. That's a terrible way to die."

Aeris' jaw clenched. "They're not dead."

Sans paused. "But you just said—"

"Sans," Aeris cut him off, turning to frown at him. He peered up at her from the side, looking about as sheepish as Sans could ever look. "If I promise to tell you the full story another time, will you drop it?"

Sans regarded her for a moment, and then gave an easy shrug. "If you want, Princess."

Despite her lingering irritation with him, Aeris began to smirk.

"Why do you still call me that?" She asked, resting her elbow on her crossed legs as she cradled her chin in her hand, watching him. Sans gave another shrug.

"What can I say? It stuck. Or maybe I just like to be a _royal_ pain."

Aeris rolled her eyes, but pressed her point. "You don't call anyone else by a nickname."

"Not true. I call Tori by a nickname, and the kid, and my bro—"

"That's different," Aeris cut in, "you call them nicknames because they're special to you. Meanwhile, you know my actual name, but you still call me Princess." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I wonder why that is?"

Her tone was full of implications. She smirked to herself as Sans seemed to pick up on them, and he hastily looked away.

"Papyrus calls you Princess, too," he bothered to point out.

Aeris grinned. "That's because Papyrus thinks I'm special, too."

She didn't know skeletons could sweat before meeting Papyrus and Sans, but boy was it funny when they did. It was even more hilarious when Sans began to blush, his skull tinting blue in contrast to Papyrus' pinks and reds. Definitely more defensive, but just as easy to fluster.

"I dunno what you're getting at, Pr—Aeris," Sans mumbled, correcting himself at the last minute, but it wasn't helping his cause at all. Aeris' grin widened.

"You're not very honest with yourself, you know," she teased him. Sans made the mistake of looking up at her, and their gazes locked. Something wordless passed between them, uncertain, yet growing stronger, and definitely mutually understood.

Aeris looked away first, getting to her feet and coughing a little. She gave the moon above one last glance before she turned her back on it.

"You should go home soon. Papyrus will be worried if you're gone too long," she reminded him, glancing over her shoulder to give him a small smile. "Good night, Sans."

"…Night," he replied, but she was already walking away, the snow crunching under her feet. The night was still cold, of course, but Aeris felt warm, mostly in her face. She pressed her mittens to her cheeks and took deep breaths, willing herself to calm down. Behind her, it was faint, but she thought she could just barely make out a chant behind her:  
"Shit shit _shit._ "

Aeris grinned.

In no time at all, she was back in front of Toriel's house. She slipped carefully into the house, being careful not to let the door slam behind her. All was quiet, as it should be. As silently as she could, Aeris removed her boots and left them by the door, tip-toeing in her socks down the hall. She thought she was home free…until she noticed a light on in her room. She froze, staring at it. Uh-oh. Toriel must've discovered she was missing. Now she was waiting in there for Aeris to get back, probably storing up a great big scolding for her.

Aeris sighed, her shoulders slumping as she trudged forward. Might as well get this over with.

"Before you say anything—" Aeris began as she pushed the door open, trying to figure out a way to explain her inexcusable behavior…but then she froze, her mouth coming open with a pop.

Toriel was in there all right. But she wasn't alone.

"Oh! Aeris!" She cried once she noticed Aeris, and hurriedly drew the blanket over herself. Beside her, Asgore chuckled awkward.

"Golly, this is embarrassing," he rumbled.

Aeris could only stare stupidly for a second, her face turning completely red, before sense caught up to her, shouting at her to get out of there, _now._

"S-sorry!" She cried, hurriedly slamming the door shut behind her. Chanting "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," over and over again under her breath, she ran to the living room, jammed her feet into her boots and booked it out the door. Once outside, she kept running, stopping frequently because of several coughing fits, but pushing herself to keep going after every one. She hadn't officially decided where she was going, but her feet seemed able to operate independently from her brain for the moment, because soon, she found herself in front of Sans and Papyrus' house.

Wheezing from the run, she pounded her palm against the door, leaning over to catch her breath. The door opened, and she fell forward, into a narrow ribcage.

"Princess!" Papyrus cried in surprise, straightening her up and looking greatly concerned. "You look like you've seen a ghost! Did you just run into Napstablook? There's no reason to be afraid—he's friendly, I promise!"

"No—" Aeris began, only to cough more, her body shaking from the action. She felt herself being led somewhere, and found herself sitting on the couch once her coughing fit ended. Looking worried, Papyrus handed her his scarf—it seemed to be the only thing he had on him—but she shook her head and mopped her mouth up with a tissue instead. "Thanks," she said, taking deep breaths. Ooh, she really should never, ever do that again.

"Is something the matter? Is it something that I, the Great Papyrus, can help with?" Papyrus asked, looking anxious now. Aeris smiled tremulously at him.

"Actually…you can help me, Papyrus. I, uh, can't go back to Toriel's tonight. There's, um, a problem with my room. Can…I stay here tonight…?"


	10. Chapter Ten: Snow White

"What's eating you?" Grillbz asked, as was his custom whenever Sans slouched into his bar in low spirits…which was pretty often, admittedly.

Grillby's II was much like the first Grillby's, only more spacious. Whereas there was once only room for a few rambunctious characters at a time, now there was room for several. As a result, Grillby's II was often jam-packed; sometimes you couldn't even sneeze without several pairs of hands or paws handing you a hankie.

Mercifully, Sans' usual seat at the bar wasn't taken, and so he flopped down there, looking thoroughly defeated. Grillbz passed him his usual ketchup bottle, and Sans grasped it, but didn't partake of it. He didn't bother answering Grillbz's question, either.

It was hard to admit—very, very, _very_ hard—but he couldn't get Aeris out of his head. Previously, she had only been on his radar, just another person to watch over, added to the short list of people Sans cared about. But now…everything was different.

Aeris' knowing smile flashed across Sans' mind. She knew. He shouldn't be surprised—she was still able to see right through him, as if he were a ghost rather than a skeleton. And it still unnerved him, how easily that came to her. She didn't say it, but she knew how he was starting to feel about her.

So, what was Sans supposed to do about it?

The answer came swiftly and easily: nothing. Sans would do nothing. He didn't need to follow through with this. First of all, it was just a crush, like the one he had on Toriel, once upon a time. He had gotten over that, and his feelings for Toriel had been deeper than his budding feelings for Aeris. He'd be able to do this easily. So she enchanted him a little, so what? With time, he'd get used to her, and he'd move on.

Second of all, Papyrus liked her. There was no way Sans could get in the way of that. Though he didn't say it often, he loved his brother too much to let anything hurt him, ever. And he would absolutely hate himself if he let something like a _girl_ get in the way of his relationship with his brother. He refused to let that happen.

Third of all (it hurt to think of this reason, but Sans made himself focus on it), Aeris was dying. Even she didn't know how much longer she had. Either way, she wasn't long for this world, and Sans refused to let himself be pulled into something so heartbreaking on purpose. He knew better than that.

Fourth of all (though it seemed less and less likely, with every year that passed), there was a chance that this could all be reset. And then everything would disappear with the blink of an eye. Sans would be right back in the Underground, an acting sentry in Snowdin on patrol for humans, and he and Aeris would never have met. Which made this whole problem a moot point.

Sans took a moody swig from his ketchup bottle and looked around. So many happy monsters, none of them aware of the same problems Sans was aware of. The lucky bastards. What he wouldn't give to be one of them…but that was impossible, wasn't it? Sans had sealed his fate the minute his hand had gone up to be selected for the maiden voyage in the time machine with that brilliantly mad doctor…

Sans sighed, chugged the rest of the ketchup bottle, paid his bill, and left. He really wasn't in a Grillby's mood tonight after all.

As soon as he stepped outside, Sans teleported from the bar to his home, too exhausted to walk back. He nudged the door open…and then paused.

There, bathing in the glow of the television set, fast asleep on the couch, was Aeris. Sans stood in the doorway, staring stupidly at her slumbering form. He even actually backed out of the house, taking a couple steps back to look at it.

No, he hadn't teleported to Toriel's place by mistake. It was definitely his and Papyrus' house. But then…what was Aeris doing here?

Sans stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind him, his eye sockets fixed on Aeris. Surely she hadn't come here after talking with him, had she? If she had, for what reason? To speak to Papyrus? Or did she have something else to say to Sans, and was simply waiting for him to return when she fell asleep?

Moving closer, Sans noticed the blanket draped across Aeris. It was Papyrus'. So she must've come here to see him… Sans paused for a moment to regain control of himself, pushing the roiling within himself away. He _refused_ to be jealous of Papyrus.

Instead, he focused on Aeris. Not for the first time, he noted how still she was when she slept. Supposedly, everyone looked peaceful as they slumbered, their faces untroubled, dreaming sweet dreams as they lay still amidst soft pillows and warm blankets…

Aeris looked too still. Like a corpse. And the glow from the TV was washing out her skin, tinting it blue. With her hands folded neatly across her stomach, she looked like a fresh cadaver.

Sans was seized with the sudden urge to wake her up.

He moved to the other side of the couch, where Aeris' feet were. Carefully, he climbed over them…and took a seat on her knees, unmuting the TV that Aeris must've left on before falling asleep. Sound suddenly blared through the living room, jerking Aeris awake. She sat up and coughed harshly, looking around for the disturbance. Once her wild eyes landed on Sans, they narrowed dangerously.

"Sans," she bit out, growling his name like a swear word, which made the short skeleton grin. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

He gave a nonchalant shrug, because he knew it would infuriate her. "Nothin'. Just watchin' TV. Wanna join me?"

"No," Aeris denied, her voice too rough with sleep to sound properly angry. She pushed her wild hair out of her face, silver eyes flashing at Sans. "Go away."

"My house, Princess," Sans reminded her with a cheeky grin. Aeris glared at him for another second, and then, with an irritable grunt, she swung her legs off the couch, unseating Sans. "Rude," he mumbled to himself, making a show of brushing off his hoodie, but Aeris was heading to the bathroom, ignoring him completely. He snickered when she shut the bathroom door with unnecessary force, and resumed his seat on the couch.

A few minutes of idle channel surfing later, Aeris returned. Sans expected her to complain that he was interrupting her sleep, because she still looked less than happy, but she just flopped down beside him on the couch, tucking her long legs under her and propping her head up on her hand, her elbow braced against the top of the couch. She stared in resignation at the TV, a slight pout on her lips. Sans forced himself to look away from her, and continued his channel surfing.

He paused at what looked like an old animation. Papyrus loved old cartoons, so Sans thought it was one of his favorites, but he didn't recognize it. There seemed to be a bunch of short men crying over a dead woman lying on a table.

"This cartoon is dead depressing," Sans muttered, lifting his hand to change the channel.

"No, wait, don't!" Aeris protested, laying her hand across Sans'. He accidentally dropped the remote, but she didn't seem to notice. "This is a classic!"

"A classic?" Sans eyed the weeping short men doubtfully. "What's so classic about it? The animation quality?"

Aeris made a face at him before returning her attention to the TV.

"It's a Disney princess movie, Snow White. I grew up watching this. It's supposed to be a really sad moment, because Snow White was tricked into eating a poisoned apple by the evil queen, who was jealous of her beauty—"

"Now _that's_ a royal pain," Sans decided, dodging the swat Aeris aimed at him.

" _Anyway_ , the only way to save her is for her prince to come and give her a kiss of true love."

"…Wow," Sans muttered, glancing over at Aeris, "a kiss, you say? That's…unbe _love_ able."

Aeris covered her eyes with a hand. "Stop."

Sans' grin widened. "You could really say it's a story…with a lot of _heart_."

" _Stop_ ," Aeris said again, but she was shaking, her lips clamped shut to keep from laughing.

And then Sans delivered the kicker.

"You know how I would've ended it? With a punch to the evil queen. Right in the _kisser._ "

Aeris couldn't handle it. She burst into laughter, doubling over and holding her stomach. Apparently, she was more tolerant of shitty jokes when she was sleepy.

Still, Sans hadn't meant to make her laugh that hard, and had anticipated the consequence, so when Aeris began to cough, he had tissues ready, holding them out for her outstretched hand to grab. Odd how something so sad had become routine…but, then again, Sans thought wryly, he had had a lot of practice with sad routines…

Still wheezing a little, Aeris straightened up, wiping tears from her eyes as her gaze went to the TV. "Oh! Here's the good part!"

Curious, Sans looked up at the TV. Some dude had appeared on-screen, white horse and all, and he was leaning over the dead girl. Well, shimmying over the dead girl, actually—man, this animation was shit. And it was really creepy of him to be kissing a dead woman in the first place…but Sans wasn't here to kinkshame.

And just like that, the spell or whatever was broken, Snow White was awakened, and she was carried away into the sunset by her prince, followed by the short guys Aeris called "dwarfs" and all the little woodland animals of the forest. It was clearly meant to be heartwarming…but frankly, Sans just didn't get the appeal. He turned to Aeris to make another joke, but stopped short at the sight of her tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked, startled into forgetting his joke. Aeris gave a sniff, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater.

"Nothing. It's stupid," she said, sniffling a little. But Sans kept looking at her, feeling strangely anxious, and she met his gaze with an embarrassed smile. "It's just…the ending gets me every time, you know? I mean, it's a Disney movie—of course the endings are always happy. But, when I was little, this movie used to fill me up with so much hope. I would wish every night for a prince to come and save me, to give me the magic kiss that would make me better…"

Aeris looked away from Sans, at the TV screen, but he could tell she wasn't really seeing it. Her eyes had dulled again, her face becoming a corpse's mask, despite her smile.

"…But eventually, everyone has to face the facts. Fairytales will only ever be fairytales."

Sans didn't know what to say. He looked at the TV screen, too, but it eluded his gaze as well. Instead, in his mind's eye, he saw a young Aeris, kneeling next to her bed in prayer, wishing with all her might for her fairytale prince to come and save her. Her dark hair probably wasn't as long as it is now—maybe just a mop of tangles covering her head, but her skin still pale, pale as snow…

"Too bad," Sans said quietly, grinning a small grin. "I think you would've made a good Snow White."

There was another sniff, and a soft laugh from Aeris.

"Thanks," she said, and Sans glanced over to see that her face had returned to normal. She was even grinning back at him. "You would've made a great dwarf."

"Heh. You makin' fun of my height?" Sans winked at her. "I figured that'd be _beneath_ you."

"Oh my _god_ ," Aeris groaned, laughing despite herself, and Sans' grin widened.

They spent an hour or two together like that, watching late-night TV and making commentary on it that was mostly shitty puns. Aeris' walls were down, and it seemed she was more comfortable enjoying Sans' terrible humor. When she herself had come up with a devastating pun, for a minute, all Sans could do was stare at her in awe.

"What? You can dish it out, but you can't take it?" She asked with a wink.

' _I think I might love you,_ ' Sans thought about saying, as a joke. However, he ultimately decided against it. Considering the circumstances.

It was around 3 AM that their talking eventually petered out. Sans hadn't been keeping track of the time, and only noticed it when Aeris' eyelids began to droop, and her yawning became more frequent. Abruptly, he felt bad about waking her up.

"Welp, I should let you hit the hay. Or rather, burlap. You've got kids to entertain tomorrow," he said. He began to get off the couch, but Aeris' next words surprised him into staying put.

"I'm not going to work tomorrow."

He glanced over at her. This was an interesting development. Aeris, the girl who didn't like having idle time, missing work?

"Why's that?" He wondered out loud. And then he thought about the fact that he'd found Aeris asleep on his and Papyrus' couch instead of in her room at Toriel's. He never did ask about that, did he? "Did ya have a fight with Tori or something?" Sans asked, making an educated guess.

Aeris yawned widely, her eyes closing. "No. I walked in on her and Asgore apparently having…a reunion. And now I can't face either of them."

"Whoa. Wait. What?" Seriously? Toriel and Asgore…were back together?

Somewhere inside him, Sans was disappointed about that. Sure, he had accepted a long time ago that he and Toriel wouldn't work…but still. Hearing about her going back to Asgore was kind of a blow. But if it made Toriel happy…

"Sans," Aeris said, grabbing his attention, as only her speaking his name could. He turned to look at her, but her eyes were still closed, and he wondered if she was even still fully awake. "Why'd you wake me up? Really."

Sans gazed down at his lap. He thought, for a fraction of a second, about lying, or cracking a misdirecting joke…but he knew Aeris wouldn't stand for it. That stuff didn't seem to work on her. So, he sighed, and told her the truth.

"Y'know how Frisk tosses and turns when they sleep? I think everyone has a couple positions they sleep in and switch back and forward from…" Sans twiddled his bony thumbs, uncomfortable with having to admit that he'd watched her sleeping. He felt like a stalker. "…You don't move when you sleep. You're still. Too still. And when I see you like that…"

He clenched his hands together in his lap. "…It makes me think that you might never wake up again."

There. He said it. And he didn't feel any better over having to admit it. Saying the words out loud made him worry that, someday, they might be true.

After a moment, Sans looked over. Aeris' eyes were open, and she was watching him. Her expression was speculative again. Despite himself, Sans wondered what part of his soul she was seeing this time. He stared back, but as usual, she gave nothing away. The seconds ticked by.

Finally, Aeris lifted her head from where it rested in the palm of her hand, reaching out to Sans. "Give me your hand."

Sans hesitated…and then complied. He wasn't expecting the emotions that hit him when he placed his bony hand in Aeris'. Her hand was nearly as thin as his, but hers was warm, a nice little feature of having skin. Something about that warmth surrounding his fingers tugged at his soul, like a long forgotten memory, yearning to be remembered. He watched as Aeris pushed down his last two fingers and his thumb, so that his first two fingers were making the sign for "u" in sign language. This confused him—did she want to use his hand to practice sign language for some reason?

Sans was further confused when Aeris lifted his wrist. He could only watch as she leaned forward, drawing his hand up to her neck. He nearly wrenched it back in surprise when she pressed his first two fingers into her skin.

What was she doing? He had no idea. He opened his mouth to ask…and then his teeth clattered closed in surprise. Beneath his fingers was a thumping, almost a thrumming in Aeris' neck. He stared, awestruck.

"Do you feel it?"

"…Yeah," he replied, turning his surprised gaze onto Aeris. "Er…what is it?"

Aeris smiled. "It's called a pulse. It's basically the echo of my heartbeat as it pumps blood through my veins."

Sans stared at her neck. Weird…he only thought a heartbeat could be felt through a human's chest. He'd felt it plenty of times when Frisk hugged him…

"So, if my heart's beating, then I can't be dead, right?" Aeris pointed out. "It's a good way to check. If you're ever feeling unsure, I give you permission to check my pulse."

Ah. Now Sans understood—she was trying to ease his worry with this weird exercise. He couldn't help but grin a little at her, relieved that she understood.

"Even when you're sleeping?"

Aeris grinned right back. "Even when I'm sleeping."

This was the first time Sans had been so close to her face. Usually, she sat so tall above him, so he was used to seeing it from a certain distance. But now that she was so close…he could sort of see what Papyrus meant about her bone structure. Her cheek bones looked pretty strong, but Sans was more fascinated by the fact that there were tiny flecks of darker skin smattered over Aeris' cheeks, something he had never noticed before because he had never been close enough to see them. Of its own accord, his free hand began to raise, as if he meant to touch the freckles—that's what he thought they were called, anyway—to stroke them once with a finger or a thumb, just to see if they stayed on Aeris' skin, or if they'd come away and stick to his bony fingers—

The cell phone in his pocket suddenly began to ring shrilly, making both of them jump. Not two seconds later, there was the sound of a door being thrown open, and Papyrus emerged from his room.

"SANS! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'VE BEEN—oh." The tall skeleton paused, looking in between Aeris and Sans, who had hastily distanced themselves from each other when he appeared. He appeared bemused. "What're you two doing?"

"Just saying good night," Sans said, getting up from the couch and heading for the stairs. "Sup, bro? You need me for something?"

"YES! I just woke up and realized that I'd fallen asleep WITHOUT my bed time story! This is inexcusable! Get up here and fix the problem at once!"

"You got it, bro. Just lemme grab a book from my room."

As Papyrus stomped back into his room, hiking up the pants of his race car pjs, Sans turned back to Aeris.

"G'night then, Princess."

"Night," she replied quietly, not looking at him. She had a lock of her hair wound around her fingers, and Sans couldn't be quite sure, but he thought he could make out a faint blush filling her cheeks. Grinning to himself, the short skeleton made his way up the stairs, almost wishing he had a fairytale book so he could share the story of Snow White with Papyrus.

…Well…maybe he could wing it. It didn't have to be terribly accurate, because, like Aeris said, it was just a fairytale.

Sans decided to make it an epic adventure, of a princess with a tangled mop of dark hair and skin as white as snow, who, against all odds, beat the evil queen at her own game and became ruler of the land, with the help of a very cool, very handsome skeleton…

Papyrus would love this story.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Birthday Blues

It finally came.

The big day.

It was finally here.

The day of…

"FRISK'S THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY!" Undyne and Papyrus exclaimed at the same time. Cackling madly, they tossed streamers everywhere, taking advantage of the fact that Toriel wasn't here to do anything to stop them.

Sans glanced over from where he reclined on the couch, grinning as Undyne and Papyrus got themselves into a streamer fight. Toriel would definitely throw a fit if she came home to find that nothing was properly decorated…but to be fair, she left Papyrus and Undyne in charge of the decorations. Her expectations could not be high.

"I'm not covering for any of you if you break anything," came an amused voice from the kitchen. Sans glanced over, spying Aeris from the kitchen doorway. She was leaning against the wall, dressed casually today in snug black jeans and a dark green T-shirt, her dark hair pulled back by a manly looking bandana Sans recognized as Frisk's. Her socks were mismatched, he noticed—one of them was bright yellow with blue stripes, the other pink with purple stars all over it.

"Nice socks," he complimented, slouching over the back of the couch and grinning lazily at Aeris. She grinned right back.

"You're just jealous because they're cooler than yours," she teased. Sans shrugged, allowing it.

"YOUR SOCKS ARE DEFINITELY THE COOLEST, PRINCESS!" Papyrus called, getting distracted, as always, by Aeris, which caused a roll of streamers to hit his head straight on because he'd dared to take his eyes of Undyne.

"Thanks, Papyrus," Aeris said with a wink, and the tall skeleton got so excited that his renewed vigor transferred into his streamer fight with Undyne, making it a lot more dangerous. Laughing to herself, Aeris retreated into the kitchen. Sans glanced over at Papyrus and Undyne. It looked like their fight would last a while… Wanting to get out of the firing zone (and nothing else), Sans got up and headed to the kitchen himself.

Aeris was standing with her back to him, hovering over a counter. Sans could see the edges of pies in front of her.

"Whatcha up to?" He asked, and Aeris jumped. Sans grinned to himself—as much as she could see through him, she still wasn't able to hear it when he approached. And he couldn't help but abuse the one advantage he had over her.

" _Stop_ that!" She growled at him once again, throwing an annoyed look over her shoulder before turning back to whatever she was doing. "You almost made me mess up!"

"Mess up what?" Sans got closer. They were pies all right, three of them, and by the smell of butterscotch and cinnamon in the air, he could tell that Toriel made them. Aeris had a white tube in her hands, and was squeezing out something blue and purple from it. Smelled sweet. Sans watched as she squeezed the frosting onto one of the pies, forming the letter 'Y', and completing the word, making it 'HAPPY'.

"Ahh. Birthday pies," Sans said as Aeris moved onto the next one. "Usually, Tori only makes two. And there's not usually writing on them."

"I asked if I could spruce them up," Aeris said, her tongue in between her teeth as she carefully squeezed frosting onto the next pie. "She made a whole other pie for me, since I'm allergic to cinnamon, and I felt bad."

Allergic to cinnamon. Sans catalogued that random fact about Aeris and filed it away for later. "How're things between you two now?"

Aeris frowned, her eyes fixed on her work. "Awkward still," she admitted. It had been two weeks since her unfortunate walk-in on Asgore and Toriel. When she didn't go back to work the next day, Toriel had come over to Sans and Papyrus', correctly guessing that Aeris would be hiding out there. Sans and Papyrus gave them their privacy to talk, and after Toriel left, Aeris announced that she would be returning to work the next day…but she still requested to stay at their house for a while. Papyrus agreed immediately, and Sans followed his example, having no legitimate reason to reject the request. He did ask her about it later, however, when she was chipping in by washing the dishes they'd used at dinner. Her nose had wrinkled, and she looked uncomfortable.

"It's just…I don't think I can sleep in that bed anymore, knowing what I know now," she had answered him. And Sans had left it alone after that.

So now, Aeris officially lived with the skeleton brothers. She had already moved what little she possessed to a corner in their living room, and had refuted every single offer Papyrus had made to give her his bed, stating that the couch worked just fine for her. Sans wondered what she would say if he offered her his bed instead…but then decided it was best not to travel down that road, if he could help it.

He was distracted from his thoughts by Aeris coughing. She turned sharply away from the pies, covering her mouth, but it only lasted a second. Sighing, she picked the frosting tube up once again, and Sans relaxed, not realizing he had tensed up.

"Aeris—" He began, and he saw Aeris' eyes tighten and her jaw set stubbornly. She knew what was coming—they'd been having this fight a lot lately. He paused, trying to figure out how to begin, scrambling for an angle he hadn't yet approached this from…but then something else distracted him. "You've got frosting on your face," he announced, pointing a finger to her cheek. This surprised Aeris.

"Oh," she said, and he could hear the relief in her voice from that one syllable. He didn't blame her—he didn't like fighting with her, either. But he still maintained the notion that she was being unreasonably stubborn about this. Deciding to bring it up again another time, he watched her swipe her thumb across her cheek. Half the strip of frosting came away on her thumb, and she licked it off. "Did I get it?"

Sans didn't answer, staring at her. The way humans ate was weird, with that wiggling, pink muscle in their mouths, that went around licking things…

Aeris frowned. "Sans?" She called, bringing him back to the present. He blinked.

"What?"

Aeris raised an eyebrow. "Did I get it?" She repeated as she searched his face, her eyes growing speculative again. Searching for the reason he'd become distracted, no doubt. Sans looked away, avoiding her eyes. He didn't even really know why he'd become distracted either. What a stupid thing to focus on.

"Not quite," he replied, moving over to a handy stool that Toriel kept nearby for Frisk when they helped her cook. "Here, I've got it."

"You don't need to," Aeris protested, even as Sans was setting up the stool next to her. "Just tell me where—" She cut off as Sans reached up, dragging his bony thumb across her cheekbone to wipe off the rest of the frosting. His thumb lingered just a little too long, and he looked away as Aeris began to blush. She turned back to the pies, and neither of them said anything for a moment.

That was the first time Sans had touched her face. He tried not to dwell on that, and instead chose to focus on the frosting that now coated his thumb. It was purple and blue, Frisk's favorite colors. Sans preferred ketchup, of course, but frosting was usually pretty good. However he'd never tried it in multiple colors before.

"Is it any good?" He asked doubtfully, eyeing the frosting on his thumb before he glanced over at Aeris. She shrugged.

"It's frosting," she replied. This made Sans chuckle.

"I knew it," he teased with a grin, "you really don't have taste buds if you can find my brother's spaghetti delicious, and then just call frosting 'frosting'."

Aeris frowned at him. "Papyrus' spaghetti _is_ good. And I don't think he'd appreciate you implying otherwise," she said, as if she was threatening to tell on Sans for slandering his brother's culinary skills. Sans shrugged, still grinning.

"Whatever you say, Princess," he replied. Curiosity winning out, he formed his own tongue using his magic. It wasn't like a human tongue, unless human tongues could also be blue and glow, but it would do the job. Mimicking Aeris, Sans licked the frosting off his thumb. Not bad.

Sans became aware of Aeris' eyes on him, and he turned to find her staring at him with wide eyes. Her hands were still clenched around the frosting tube, and she was steadily squeezing frosting onto the second pie, ruining the 'birthday' part she was supposed to be writing. She didn't appear to notice.

"…What?" Sans dared to ask, beginning to grin at the look on her face. Aeris blinked, as if just realizing she had been staring, and then hastily wrenched her gaze from his, looking down at the pie she was working on. She swore and grabbed a butter knife, scraping off the extra frosting.

"Nothing," she mumbled, her face turning red.

"Really?" Sans teased, leaning closer to her. "Because it looks like you have something…on the tip of your _tongue._ "

Aeris put the knife down and put her hands over her eyes.

"Go away, Sans," she grumbled, sounding mortified. Sans chuckled at her reaction.

"What? Didn't think skeletons had tongues? You need to brush up on your monster anatomy, Princess." She peeked at him through a gap in her fingers, and he winked at her, sticking his tongue out again. "Then maybe next time you'll know to _hold your tongue._ "

"Sans, I swear to god—" Aeris began, leaning towards him with a glare, red flooding her cheeks, making Sans grin wider—

The front door flew open with a bang, and Sans and Aeris jumped. Over her startled coughing, Sans could hear Alphys' voice.

"We're here with the balloons!"

"Aeris!" Asgore called next, "where are you?"

"C-coming!" Aeris called as she tried to catch her breath, a tissue to her mouth and a hand over her heart. Sans edged back, feeling guilty for reasons he'd rather not explore. Aeris began to head out of the kitchen, but then she paused, looking down at the frosting tube in her hand. She glanced back at Sans, frowning a little. He noticed the blush hadn't quite faded from her cheeks just yet. Slowly, as if she expected him to bite, she moved back over to him, biting her lip. "…Do me a favor?" She asked eventually, holding the tube of frosting out for Sans. He grinned and took it with a shrug.

"Sure thing, Princess. But you're messin' with my lazy cred, I hope you know."

"You'll survive," Aeris assured him with a dry look. She retraced her steps to leave the room, pausing in the doorway. "And _no_ shitty puns!"

"What? You don't think puns would make them more…ap- _pie_ -tizing?"

Aeris rolled her eyes, but she gave him a grudging grin before going out to greet Asgore and Alphys.

Pivoting carefully on the stool, Sans returned his attention to the pies. No puns, eh? Well, it wouldn't be easy, but he could resist not writing any puns on the pies.

But other than that, Aeris hadn't specified at all what Sans was supposed to write. He grinned, lifting the frosting tube. This was gonna be fun.

* * *

"When are they gonna get here? I'm tired of waiting!"

"They'll be here soon, Undyne. Toriel just texted to confirm it, right?"

"Yeah, well, they need to hurry up! My legs are cramping up because Asgore's too big to hide properly!"

"S-sorry…"

"SHH!" Papyrus hissed from beside Sans, and though it was dark, Sans could practically see his brother's teeth jabbering in irritation. "BE QUIET, OR FRISK WILL HEAR YOU! THEN THE SURPRISE WILL BE RUINED!"

"But you're talking the loudest…" Sans heard Undyne grumble from across the room.

There was a quiet sigh from his other side. Apparently, Aeris didn't think this whole 'surprise' thing was going too well.

"Don't sweat it, Princess," Sans mumbled to Aeris, guessing where her ear was by the amount of hair he ran into. "I'll be surprised if the kid isn't suspicious already. Tori's been too nice to them today, letting them sleep in and taking them out for ice cream before finishing their homework. Frisk knows what's up. Trust me."

Aeris sighed again, and Sans felt her breath brush his skull. She must've turned towards him in the dark. "I guess. No one here is exactly what we'd call 'subtle', huh?"

That was an understatement. Sans was about to say so, but he got distracted by the way Aeris smelled. She must've been in the kitchen when Toriel was baking the pies, because their scent clung to her: cinnamon, butterscotch, and something else…chocolate?

He almost leaned in for a closer whiff, but there were suddenly keys jangling outside the front door.

"THIS IS IT! SHHH!" Papyrus reminded them all again, the eagerness in his voice unmistakeable. Sans grinned in the dark.

"Well!" Called Toriel's voice from the other side of the door as the keys continued to jangle. "I hope you had fun with me today, Frisk? Now, we are going to go inside, and have a regular, normal evening!"

"Seriously," Sans heard Aeris grumble, "no chill at all."

He chuckled.

Finally, Toriel opened the door. There was an outcry of "SURPRISE!" all throughout the living room. Sans got up at his leisure—he wasn't really a jumping kind of skeleton—eyeing Aeris from the corner of his eye sockets. He knew from experience that she didn't do surprises very well…but apparently she was fine when she was in on them, for she cheered just like everyone else, and seemed completely fine afterwards. She had removed Frisk's bandana from her head, and had sufficed with hair clips that were holding her hair back on the sides. They must be some pretty strong clips, Sans thought, because that didn't look like an easy job at all.

Frisk was nice enough to look surprised. They jumped back, gripping the spot over their heart in a dramatic way.

"GOTCHA, PUNK!" Undyne cackled, racing forward to give Frisk a noogie. Toriel seemed to disapprove of this action, but once she caught sight of Asgore there, she blushed and looked away, suggesting that they start the party.

And so it began. Alphys had come up with a chart of party games that were popular in the human world, so they played a lot of them, with direction from Frisk and Aeris on how to play the games properly. Toriel soundly beat them all at Monopoly, somehow owning all the railroads and properties within just an hour. Sans was ruled the worst banker ever by Papyrus, when he took a nap in the middle of the game, costing all the players about a thousand dollars each when they passed the 'go' square, and Undyne ended up flipping the board over after being told to go to jail for the fifth time.

They moved onto charades shortly after, which Frisk ruled at, so they were made score-keeper. Aeris, Papyrus and Sans were on one team, while Toriel, Asgore, Alphys and Undyne were on another. Alternating between teams, Frisk would pantomime a phrase they picked from a box of clues, and one team would have to guess, the point going to the other team if they guessed wrong. Toriel and Asgore were a force to be reckoned with, since they knew all of Frisk's hand signals by now and could decipher them within seconds. But Aeris, who had been studying sign language religiously ever since she got her hands on a book for beginners, carried their team, for Papyrus often guessed wrong in his excitement, and Sans didn't care to seriously compete. He was just content to kick back and watch everyone else have fun.

Finally, after a disastrous trial game of Twister (which may or may not have ended due to the board being ripped in half by two large goat bodies attempting to stretch in opposite directions to reach the appropriate colored circle), Toriel announced that it was time for birthday pie. Everyone crowded themselves around the table, singing "Happy Birthday" loudly and off-key as Toriel brought the pies into the living room, each bearing four or five lit candles to add up to Frisk's age. Frisk thought for a while about what they wanted to wish for, and then, asking for Papyrus' help because he looked so excited, they blew out their birthday candles. Amidst the applause, Aeris leaned down to ask Frisk what they wished for.

" _If I tell you, it won't come true!_ " Frisk protested, and Aeris laughed.

"True. Sorry for asking, then. I hope it comes true," she said, ruffling Frisk's hair affectionately. Sans savored the peaceful smile on her face, for when the lights were cut back on and everyone took a good look at the pies, it was wiped from her face completely.

"Er…did you…decorate the pies, Aeris…?" Alphys wanted to check, wiping her glasses on her lab coat, as if she surely could not be seeing them properly.

"They're…um…interesting," Asgore said with a forced smile.

Aeris said nothing. Sans grinned as she stared down at the pies in shock. The first two still said "Happy Birthday", like they were supposed to, but Sans had taken a few…"liberties", with the last pie.

"'Happy Birthday, Legendary Fart Master'?" Papyrus read out loud, before looking at Aeris questioningly. "Er…wow. That's…kind of immature, Princess…"

Aeris' eyes cut over to Sans, glaring daggers. Frisk was suspicious too; they raised their eyebrows at Sans, as he knew they would: only Frisk would really get the joke, after all.

"I asked you to do _one thing_ —" Aeris began, but before her tirade against the short skeleton could take off, her disease reared its ugly head, and she was coughing. It was a big attack—she had to be sat down, and her coughing didn't cease until she was choking, gasping for air. The party atmosphere evaporated quickly, and everyone exchanged worried looks as Aeris leaned over, attempting to get her breathing under control. Blood splattered the floor at her feet, staining the carpet.

"…Aeris?" Toriel asked over Aeris' ragged breathing, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right…?"

Still gasping for air, Aeris could only nod. Toriel grasped her by her arms, helping her stand.

"Maybe you should lie down for a bit," she suggested. It was a testament to just how much that fit had taken out of her when Aeris only nodded and allowed herself to be steered away, down the hall.

"The floor—" Sans heard her protest weakly, only for Toriel to shush her.

"Don't worry, I'll have it cleaned up in a jiffy. You just rest, dear."

Toriel looked grim when she came back into the living room, and Sans suspected it was for Frisk's sake that she hitched on a smile.

"Well…let's dig in! Asgore, would you?"

"Of course," Asgore replied, taking up the pie cutter and doling out slices to everyone while Toriel used magic to scrub the floor clean of Aeris' blood. Everyone took a slice of pie, but it didn't look like anyone felt much like eating it. Sans saw that he was right about the chocolate he had smelled on Aeris when Asgore cut into the fart master pie, revealing the chocolate underneath the crust. He handed the slice to Sans, who thanked him, but decided to put it to the side to save for Aeris. He didn't find his joke remotely funny anymore.

In an attempt to cheer everyone up, Frisk moved eagerly to their presents. They all had fun with Frisk's reactions as they opened the gifts, but the smiles didn't last. Somehow, whereas it had only been them for Frisk's previous birthdays, now it somehow felt wrong not to have Aeris there with them. The feeling increased when Frisk opened Aeris' gift to reveal a sketchpad and brand-name colored pencils. Sans smiled a little at that, noting Frisk actually looked excited about this present. Aeris must've noticed that Frisk really liked to draw. She saw everything after all.

"Um…l-let's watch the new movie you got, Frisk!" Alphys decided, holding up the copy of an anime movie of one of Frisk's favorite show. Frisk nodded, and everyone piled around the TV to watch the movie. But no one's hearts seemed to be in it. Not really.

Undyne stared at the screen with an unseeing eye, her arm around Alphys, who fidgeted constantly. Asgore was patting Toriel's shoulder, who seemed to be trying not to cry. Papyrus wasn't even looking at the TV, and kept glancing down the hallway, as if he expected Aeris to appear at any moment. And Frisk, seeing that no one else was watching the movie, got to their feet.

"Frisk?" Toriel called after them as they began to make their way down the hall.

" _Bathroom,_ " Frisk reported, and Toriel left it alone. But Sans watched as Frisk went down the hall, turning not into the bathroom, but into the guest room.

Sans looked around. No one else was watching—Papyrus' attention had finally been captured by the movie, for this anime was one of his favorites as well, and he was watching with rapt attention as the hero began to attack the enemy with full force. Quietly, Sans got to his feet, moving like he was heading into the kitchen. Once inside, however, he teleported back to the hall, outside the guest room.

Frisk had left the door open a crack. Slumping against the wall, Sans peered inside.

Aeris was awake and alert. She sat against a stack of pillows, and was smiling down at Frisk, who had climbed onto the large bed and sat in front of her, signing rapidly.

"I'm fine," she promised, ruffling Frisk's hair. "It was just a really bad one, that's all. So, did you open my gift yet?"

" _Yeah! It's really cool, thanks,_ " Frisk signed, smiling up at Aeris. Her smile widened in response.

"Good, I'm glad. Draw lots of pictures for me, okay? Happy birthday," she wished, leaning over to hug Frisk. Frisk patted her back, and they stayed that way for a while before Aeris drew back. Sans watched her bite her lip and tug on a strand of her hair. "…Hey, Frisk? Can you show me that trick again?"

Frisk apparently knew exactly what she meant by 'that trick'. They frowned and nodded, signaling that Aeris should hold still. Aeris did just that, closing her eyes and holding her body stiffly. Intrigued, Sans leaned forward, watching as Frisk held their hands out in front of Aeris' chest. There was a sudden flash of light, and Frisk slowly drew their hands back. Something was coming out of Aeris' chest. Sans stared as Frisk drew it out, their brow furrowed with concentration and determination. Another flash of light illuminated the room—

Aeris opened her eyes. Floating in front of her was a silver heart the same color as her eyes—the representation of her soul.

But there was something wrong. Sans felt himself go numb as he spotted the problem: a large crack ran down the length of the silver heart, nearly splitting it in two. There was only an inch or two at the bottom that kept it from being completely broken apart.

Aeris let out a humorless laugh. "…It got bigger again…guess I don't have much time left…"

Frisk helped her put her soul back into her chest, and then they gave her a sad look.

" _What are you going to do?_ " They asked. Aeris let out that hollow laugh again, her face the mask of a corpse.

"Nothing to do. I'm dying. Can't really do anything to change that," she pointed out. Sans watched as Frisk seemed to hesitate. Slowly, they reached into their pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. When they unfolded it, Sans received a shock: printed on what looked like a flyer was Aeris' face, with the words "HAVE YOU SEEN ME?" written underneath it in large, black letters.

"… _Your parents are looking for you,_ " Frisk signed when Aeris had taken the flyer from them, her gaze distant. " _Maybe you should go back to them. Maybe they have a cure for you now._ "

"…Where did you get this?" Aeris asked, her voice quiet.

" _Mom and I went to the human town near where she teaches to get ice cream. I saw it hanging in the window of one of the shops…so I took it._ _I don't think Mom noticed, and I didn't want her to see._ "

Sans watched as Aeris stared down at the flyer, feeling completely helpless again. It hadn't even occurred to him that Aeris' family might be looking for her, that maybe her parents were worried about their only daughter's disappearance. And now they were looking for her, not even knowing if she was safe, or alive…

The sound of crinkling paper grabbed Sans' attention, and he watched as Aeris balled the flyer up, clenching it in her fist. He couldn't figure out the expression she was making—a wild light had entered her eyes, and when she gripped Frisk's shoulders, Sans almost barged in, the fear that she might hurt the kid occurring to him for the first time.

"Frisk," she said in a low voice, and Sans stopped himself, still able to hear Aeris in that voice, despite how cornered her expression looked, "do not tell anyone else about this, all right? This has to be a secret between you and me. Can you do that? Can you keep this a secret, just between us?"

Frisk seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, they gave a nod. Aeris' shoulders relaxed, and she let her hands slide off Frisk.

"Thank you. Let's…let's not talk about this anymore, all right?"

Pushing the blanket back, Aeris slid her legs out of bed, waving off Frisk's nonverbal protests. "It's all right. I feel fine. Let's go back into the living room, okay? Everyone else must be wondering where you've gone. It's _your_ day, remember?" She held out a hand, smiling kindly at the child. "Let's go."

Frisk still looked troubled, but they put their hand in Aeris', allowing her to pull them from the room. When they entered the living room, Sans was right back on the couch with Papyrus, as if he never left. He saw Toriel and Alphys give him curious looks, but before either of them could question him, they caught sight of Aeris.

"Oh, Aeris!" Toriel cried, jumping to her feet.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Alphys questioned in concern, but Aeris waved her free hand at them.

"I'm fine, I promise," she said with an awkward smile. "I'm sorry for freaking you all out, but I'm okay."

Sans wondered if he was the only one who noticed Frisk frowning at the lie. If he wasn't, no one else spoke up about it. It seemed that they were all just relieved that Aeris was back on her feet. Papyrus himself was crying tears of happiness as he slid down the sofa to make room for Aeris. She obliged him, taking a seat in the middle of the skeleton brothers with Frisk squeezing in between her and Sans. She allowed it, stroking Frisk's hair as the child laid their head on her shoulder. With her return, the festive atmosphere seemed to return full force, and she joined in the cheering as the main character of the movie gathered all his friends together for a final attack against the villain. Everyone was so fired up that it took a moment for Sans to realize that Frisk was trying to hand him something. Curious, the short skeleton opened his hand, allowing Frisk to drop something into it. Sans could only look down at it for a second before Frisk made waving motions at him to put it away. The short skeleton shoved the paper ball into his pocket, but he didn't need a closer look to know what it was—it was the flyer that Aeris had crumpled up. Frisk must've grabbed it before they left the guest room, and now they were giving it to Sans.

Frisk pushed a finger to their lips before returning their attention back to the TV screen. Sans kept his hand closed around the balled up flyer in his pocket. He wasn't sure what the kid wanted him to do with the flyer, but he did know one thing—Frisk was incredibly observant, too.

Either that, or Sans was losing his touch at being sneaky when he spied on people.

* * *

 **A/N : Happy Halloween! :3 I was gonna go out tonight, but I stayed in to write this chapter. Show your support with reviews, please!**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Can You Feel It?

Aeris really was not photogenic.

Sans reclined on his bed, propped up by the sheets balled up in the middle as he stared at the crumpled flyer in his hands. Despite the fact that this picture couldn't be that old, it looked nothing like Aeris—the eyes in the photo lacked the spark that Aeris' eyes usually carried, and her smile, which was sometimes barely there and sometimes on full display, was nowhere to be found in the photo. If Sans didn't know any better, he'd say this photo was of a dead woman, and would've tossed it aside. Really, he didn't know why he was still hanging onto it. He should just throw it out…

His eye sockets spied the contact information at the bottom of the flyer. There was an e-mail address as well as a phone number listed under two unfamiliar names: Clifton and Helena Crown.

Aeris' last name was Crown. The irony made Sans snicker out loud. He really, _really_ wanted to tease her about it, but then he'd have to explain how he knew her last name, since she never told anyone…and, well, that was a can of worms that was best left unopened.

Sans shifted to his side, propping his skull up with a hand as he stared at the contact information. So these people were looking for their daughter, huh? Then they couldn't be as bad as Aeris seemed to think, could they? True, Sans knew nothing about them, but if they were bothering to hand out flyers with her picture on it, looking to see her safely returned…

Suddenly, Sans found himself wondering what Aeris' parents looked like. He only saw humans from a distance when he could help it, but he knew that offspring often took on some physical traits of the parent. Sans couldn't help but wonder which of her parents Aeris looked like.

The short skeleton eyed his computer. It could be considered an invasion of privacy, what he was planning to do…but, then again, who would know?

His mind made up, Sans got up from his bed and moved over to his computer, a jiggle of the mouse bringing the screen humming to life. Only two things were open: a new quantum physics formula he was working on, and a script for his next stand-up comedy. He minimized both those documents and went to the web browser, pleased at least that the human internet was a lot faster than the monster internet. He typed in the names of Aeris' parents and hit enter.

More links than he was expecting popped up. Curious, Sans opened a couple, browsing through the information. Aeris had neglected to mention that her parents were well-known in the human world: her mother was apparently a famous doctor, her father a renowned pharmacist. Quite a combination. How cruel it was for them to have a daughter that they apparently couldn't cure.

Sans clicked on another link, bringing up a web page for missing persons. Aeris' cadaver photo flashed at him again, with the same contact information as on the flyer. There was new information here, though, a reward to anyone who found her, the sum of… _wow_. Sans didn't even use human money and he knew that was a lot. Her parents were really using every resource available, weren't they?

Sans scrolled down, finding a picture of Clifton and Helena Crown together. Neither of them looked like they could take a joke: their faces were stern, eyes screened by identical frameless glasses. Aeris' father had her thick dark hair, with liberal gray streaks through it, and icy blue eyes. He looked familiar for some reason…Sans chalked it up to him and Aeris having the same face.

Her mother's hair was dark brown and cut short, and she, too, had gray in it, but it ran down the length of one strand of her hair, tucked behind an ear. Her eyes were the same color as her daughter's.

Sans was wrong—though they shared physical similarities, Aeris didn't look like either of her parents. And, just from their expressions, he was beginning to question his judgment on whether or not they were good people. No wonder Aeris didn't want to return to them.

…But still…if they could help her…

Sans realized he had moved the mouse. The pointer was now hovering over the link that would go to the Crowns' e-mail address. Hypothetically speaking…he could send them a message, letting them know their daughter was safe. They wouldn't be able to trace it—Sans was too good at covering his tracks by now—so it wouldn't lead back to Aeris. But would it truly give them peace of mind to know that Aeris was alive, without knowing where she was or who she was with?

The short skeleton stared at the screen, debating, his forefinger poised over the right-click button of his mouse—

There was a gagging sound from somewhere downstairs. Sans glanced down at the time in the corner of his monitor. It was half past three in the morning. Surely no one else was awake at this time?

The gagging noise came again, followed by a series of coughs.

Shit.

Sans quickly left his room and paused in the hallway, overlooking the living room.

Aeris was leaning forward, her body trembling. He could see her spine through the t-shirt she slept in, and it shuddered as she coughed and hacked. Cursing under his breath, Sans hurried down the stairs just as Aeris fell forward, onto the floor.

"Aeris!" Sans shouted, dropping to her side. His hands hovered, hesitant to touch her, yet wanting to help in some way. Blood was dripping through her fingers, and she took a shuddering, gasping breath.

"I'm—" A cough interrupted her, and she tried again, "I'm fine, Sans. G-go back to bed."

Sans could only stare at her. Her mouth looked like a horror show, completely covered in blood. The sight would've made his stomach turn, if he had one. But it brought on an onslaught of emotion he had no idea he could feel all at once instead. Why was this happening? Why did Aeris have to suffer like this? What had she done to deserve such a cruel, senseless death sentence?

Aeris must have been embarrassed by Sans' staring, for she turned away from him, as if ashamed. "Seriously, I'm okay. Go back to sleep."

"You are _not_ okay." Did Aeris hear the way Sans' voice cracked there? Or was he imagining it?

"I'm fine." The stubborn edge was creeping into Aeris' voice. She turned her back on him, beginning to mop up the blood with the pack of tissues she always kept near her. "Don't make such a big deal out of—"

"It _is_ a big deal!" Sans abruptly burst out. He didn't realize he was angry until he was on his feet, his hands balled into shaking fists. He was so sick of this, so sick of Aeris brushing off her death like this, when it was doing nothing but killing him a little more every day, watching her suffer and knowing she didn't have much time left.

And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Aeris turned to him, her eyes bewildered, but it was nowhere near enough to calm him.

"Here you are in the middle of the night, spitting up blood like you're some kind of demonic fountain! But all you can say is that you're 'fine'? Stop screwing around! I'm sick of you treating this like a joke!"

Aeris just stared at him. Sans stared back, breathing hard. He didn't know where this sudden fury was coming from, but it was all-consuming, and it was all Aeris' fault for letting herself get this far gone. He watched, gritting his teeth as she slowly got to her feet, towering over him.

"A joke…?" She quoted him, her eyes flashing. "You think this is funny to me? You think I _like_ having to live like this?"

"Well you're sure as hell not doing anything to fix it, are you, Princess?" Sans pointed out, his grin grim and tone condescending. "All you do is sit around and suffer through the fits, and you just smile afterwards like it's not a problem, but it is! Do you even realize what you're doing to the people who care about you? You're forcing them to watch you die!"

"I didn't ask for this!" Aeris cried, her voice reaching a hysterical pitch as she threw bloodied tissues to the floor in frustration. "I didn't _ask_ to be forced to live like this, Sans! But what else can I do?! I have no other choice!"

"You _do_ have a choice!" Sans shot back, his left eye beginning to glow in his anger. He was losing control of his powers—he had to calm down— "If you'd stop being so stubborn for _one second_ , you'd see that the way you're living isn't 'living' at all!"

"Then what is?" Aeris challenged, taking a step forward, apparently not intimidated by the blue fire lighting Sans' fists. "Spending what's left of my life doped up on drugs that are supposed to 'help' me, but just make me walk around in a haze, not knowing what's real? Don't talk to me like you know what it's like, Sans! You have _no idea_ what I've had to go through, so just. Shut. Up!"

"You're unbelievable," Sans growled, his grin twisting in disgust. "You claim you want to live so badly, but all you're doing is sitting here, waiting for death, and making the rest of us wait along with you so you don't have to be alone. Pathetic."

Aeris slapped him. The sound seemed to echo through the living room, leaving deafening silence behind. Sans' head had snapped to the side, and now he stared blankly at the blue TV screen, which Aeris liked to leave on while she slept.

The slap hadn't hurt him. If anything, it had probably hurt Aeris more than him, because hitting straight up bone had to be painful. But the intent behind the action—the intent to hurt him—was felt very clearly, and it cut through Sans like a bone saw. Something wet was on his cheek. Reaching up, he ran a finger over it, bringing the mystery substance into his line of vision. It was Aeris' blood.

Slowly, the short skeleton turned to look at Aeris. She was clutching the hand she'd slapped him with, proving him right—it had hurt her more. Physically, at least. She stared back at him, the expression in her eyes conflicting, clashing between guilt, defiance…and pain. Tears were beginning to sparkle in her eyes. Hating the sight, Sans looked away. Neither of them said anything for a minute, the silence spiraling horribly.

"…Sans? Princess?"

Sans looked up. Papyrus was at the top of the stairs, in his race car pjs. He shifted uneasily, looking between Sans and Aeris and back again. Sans made the mistake of glancing at Aeris, and then wished he hadn't: tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"…Maybe I should go," she said, her voice low and throaty, like a Froggit's croak.

Sans stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Don't bother. I'm leaving."

"Sans?" Papyrus called, but Sans was already heading for the door. He waved a hand over his shoulder.

"I'll be back later, Papyrus," was all he promised before he slipped out of the house, shutting the door quietly behind him.

' _Welp. That conversation could've gone better,_ ' Sans reflected to himself, walking through the snow, his destination uncertain other than that he wanted to be away from Aeris. He wasn't even angry anymore—just miserable. Sans wasn't sure why he had lost control like that…maybe seeing all that blood had driven him crazy. It did bring up bad memories…

Sans dragged his bony hand across his cheek, his bones beginning to stain red with Aeris' blood. A part of him was still in shock that Aeris had actually hit him…but maybe he had it coming.

He took out a tissue, wiping his cheek clean of her blood. He wanted no trace of her on him.

After trashing the used tissue, the short skeleton pulled out his phone. He didn't want to be alone right now—it seemed dangerous, somehow. He knew now where he wanted to go, and he had someone in mind to tag along with him, but, considering the late hour, it was a stretch to believe that anyone else would be awake right now…

' _What the hell._ ' Silently hoping that tonight was one of her odd-hour nights, Sans pressed the appropriate number on his speed dial and held the phone to his non-existent ear, listening to the phone ring, waiting…

"H-hello?"

She picked up. Thank god.

Sans loosed a sigh. "Hey. I know it's late, sorry. I just wondered if you could help me with something."

* * *

Science was always a good way to distract Sans. Comedy came naturally to him, so he barely had to think about it, but science was always evolving, and what worked once wasn't guaranteed to work a second time…at least, not in the branch of science he worked in.

Alphys was a good lab partner to have around. She knew what she was doing, so every time Sans asked her for a tool or to perform an action, she had it covered. It was relaxing to be with her when they were both completely absorbed in what they were doing, speaking only to report changes as they came.

"Oh, Sans, there are fluctuations here…"

"Oh? That's a good sign. There aren't any strange spikes of power in the reactor, are there?"

"No, everything looks good so far…"

"Then we can proceed. Hand me that soldering gun, would you?"

Often, as he always did when he found himself down here, Sans found himself beginning to hope that something would change this time around, that he'd be able to finally fix this blasted machine, that he'd be able to somehow go back, and warn himself of the things to come, to stop this disastrous trip from ever coming to fruition, to maybe talk some sense into the person he admired the most…

It in the exact moments that he began to hope the strongest that it all tended to blow up in his face.

Abruptly, red lights began to flash, and a metallic beeping sounded throughout the room: a warning. That wasn't good.

"I-it's the reactor! I was watching it, but suddenly—!" Alphys yelped, backing away hastily.

Sans didn't need an excuse right now. What he needed was action.

"Hit the deck!" He warned, but he didn't wait for Alphys to heed him—he tackled her, and they flew over a work desk, scattering pieces of machinery and tools everywhere. Sans had only enough time to flip the desk over, making an impromptu shield, before the explosion occurred. A shard of metal embedded itself into the wood of the desk, exactly an inch from Alphys' face. She blinked in a terrified way at the metal, and Sans sighed, standing up and lifting his goggles, squinting through the smoke.

It looked like the only thing they succeeded at was blowing a good chunk of the machine off. Great. One step forward, ten steps back. This was exactly what Sans needed right now.

Sighing again, Sans tugged his goggles off his head and threw them to the side. He was just so done with everything right now.

"You okay?" He managed to remember to ask Alphys, who seemed to be stunned, sitting on the floor still staring at the piece of metal stuck through the desk. Sans offered her his hand, and she blinked, appearing to snap out of it before laughing nervously and pulling herself to her feet with his help.

"Y-yeah. It's just…I didn't expect it to _explode_ like that…"

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it either. Glad you're not hurt, though."

"Th-thanks…" Alphys eyed the machine, which was still faintly smoking. She gulped. "Um…w-what now? Should we, uh, start from square one…?"

"Nah." Sans took up the fire extinguisher and sprayed the machine thoroughly, just to be safe, before pulling the sheet that always hid it from view back over it. "That's enough for tonight. I've kept you out long enough."

"Oh wow!" He heard Alphys yelp behind him, "it's already almost seven!"

"Sorry," he apologized, giving the covered machine a long look before he turned his back on it. Alphys appeared embarrassed by the apology.

"Oh n-no, it's not a problem! I mean, if you hadn't called, I probably would've stayed up all night last night anyway, watching this new show Undyne and I started watching the other night…oh, but don't tell her that! I-I'm not supposed to be watching without her…but I got so excited that I just couldn't help myself! Oh…I'm going to have to tell her I skipped ahead…she's gonna be so mad…"

Sans just watched Alphys agonize. What he wouldn't give to have problems as simple as hers…

Alphys met his gaze, shifting uncomfortably. She seemed to want to say something, but how to ask was apparently becoming a struggle for her. Finally, she just went for it.

"Er…Sans? Not that I don't like hanging out with you, but, uh…is everything…okay?"

Was it ever?

Sans patched together a grin, this one the least sincere of his usual ones. "You don't need to worry yourself about me, Alphys. I'm just dandy."

Alphys waited, seeming to expect something. But when Sans didn't make some kind of pun, her expression grew even more worried.

"Um…I may be the last person you want to talk to about this, but…does it have to do with…y'know…Aeris?"

Sans felt his grin disappear. "I don't want to talk about her, Alphys."

Alphys blinked and blushed. "Oh, r-right. Ha ha. S-sorry for, um, prying, then. I guess this isn't something you'd want to talk about with me…"

Still doubting herself, even after all this time. This time it was Sans' fault for imposing his bad mood on her. Sighing, the short skeleton stepped forward, patting Alphys' shoulder.

"You've done enough by keeping me company tonight. Seriously, it's appreciated. More than you know. Thanks, Alphys."

Alphys flushed a deeper red at the praise, but she gave Sans a smile. "Anytime, Sans."

Returning her smile a little, Sans gestured with his head that they should get out of there. He headed out of the shed, flicking off the lights as he went, with Alphys on his heels. Before he exited, he took Alphys' hand, and teleported them straight back to the surface world. It was convenient to be able to teleport just to avoid the long trek from the surface world to Snowdin and back, at least.

They were right outside Alphys' surface lab. After agreeing to move in together, Alphys and Undyne had solved the dilemma of where they'd live (because Undyne didn't much fancy living in Hotland) by building Alphys a new lab on the surface. It was a lot smaller than the one in Hotland, and Alphys always retreated there to do the big work, but so far, her work of making robotic toys for children was going pretty well. Monster children loved them, and Alphys even did steady business exporting the figurines she made to the human cities—an export trade that Undyne ran with relish. They had a steady partnership both in their professional and private lives.

The sun was peeking out over the tree tops already, bringing just a little warmth to the chilly day. Alphys let out a big yawn.

"Well, I'd better get some rest. I've got a lot of work to do, later…you sure you're all right, Sans?" The triceratops wanted to check one final time.

Sans put his hands in his pockets, trying to figure out how best to lie to that question. His hand brushed something in his pocket, and Sans pulled it out to reveal the balled up missing persons flyer he'd been inspecting hours ago. He hadn't even realized that he'd stuffed it back in his pocket.

Just then, when the short skeleton believed that he had no plans today, he suddenly had several.

"Yeah," he replied, putting the flyer away and looking over at Alphys. "I'm fine. Go on and get some sleep. Just don't get too much…"

Sans grinned and winked, "or you'll get _deep rest_."

Alphys sighed. The punny skeleton was fine. Wishing him good night (or, er, good morning…?), she hobbled back into her lab for some much needed rest. Which left Sans to yet again retrieve the balled up flyer from his pocket, smoothing it out and staring down at the contact information.

It was a dick move, what he was considering. Aeris wouldn't like it…but she wouldn't have to know it was him. Besides, even if she suspected, she'd never be able to prove it.

Sans had to do this. It was for her own good. Then maybe, once she was gone, he could finally get some peace.

The short skeleton tried very hard to convince himself that getting Aeris help would grant him the peace that always eluded him as he teleported away. It was a slow-going process.

* * *

Sans hated human cities. He didn't like the way they smelled—of pollution. If he wanted to smell that all the time, he'd go live in the dump in the Underground. And the humans always seemed in such a hurry, so much that they constantly bumped into each other and didn't even apologize, just giving each other rude looks and coarse words. What was so great about them?

Sans kept his hood low over his skull. No one was looking at him, shaded by this large tree, but he didn't need to risk anyone glimpsing him and causing a riot. He had enough problems to deal with at the moment, anyway.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. Any second, they would arrive…

Just as he thought that, a silver, fancy-looking car pulled into the parking lot across from where he stood. Sans shrank further into the shadows, peering out with one eye socket as the doors opened, and a severe-looking couple exited the vehicle. Sans watched as the man checked his watch, while the woman glanced around, silver eyes searching up and down the sidewalk. Neither of them looked in his direction.

As the minutes ticked by, the man was growing steadily impatient. He huffed a lot, checking his watch and running his hands through black and silver hair so thick that Sans had to wonder multiple times how his fingers didn't get swallowed by the mass. The woman stood still, her gaze flickering to every human that passed by them or near them, something like hope glimmering in her eyes when someone got close, only to dim when they passed by, without a word.

Still, the couple waited.

And waited.

And waited.

…But nobody came.

After thirty minutes of this, the man huffed. "This is pointless, Helena."

"Don't be so impatient, Clif."

"It was another prank. You see that, don't you?"

"Not this time. He—whoever he was—sounded genuine. He knows our daughter. He knows where she is."

The desperate strain in the woman's otherwise clipped tones made Sans feel horrible. He had gotten her hopes up, and now she was waiting for a stranger with a friendly face for good news. There was no way he could show himself now, despite trying to talk himself into it for the last thirty minutes.

The man scoffed. "That's what you said about the punk who wanted the reward money before he would tell us anything. And the woman who tried to pass off her own daughter as ours. And—"

"Well I don't see you doing anything!" Aeris' mother flared up at once, her eyes flashing angrily at her husband. "All you do is stay locked up in your shop all day, peddling your migraine pills! Our _daughter_ is missing, Clifton!"

"And whose fault do you think it is that she's gone 'missing'?" Aeris' father quoted with a nasty sneer. "I _told_ you you were smothering her, and now look! She's not missing—she's run away!"

"You're as much to blame as me for force-feeding her all those pills that turned out to be useless!"

"It's not my fault! You misdiagnosed her!"

"Oh, of course, because your precious pills could _never_ be faulty, could they?!"

They were causing quite a scene. Passerby eyed them warily; mothers chivvied their young children away from their side of the street. Sans couldn't blame them—the way those two screamed at each other like that…it was hard to believe they were married. …But, then again, maybe it wasn't. After all, only people who had spent so much time together knew how to hurt each other like this, didn't they? No wonder Aeris had left home.

The fight went on, getting steadily louder and more personal until a man in a black uniform with a badge was forced to break it up. He told the couple to either take it inside or lower their voices before going on his way, and the couple glared at each other for a long while after, both fuming silently about their personal feelings. They finally turned away from each other in a huff, giving the other their backs with their arms folded. Sans knew now where Aeris got her temper from.

After a moment, the woman reached into her expensive-looking purse, retrieving a slip of paper from its depths. The back of the paper held a black square, the outline of the edges white—a photograph? As Sans watched, her expression slowly faded from furious, changing into an expression that was even harder to look at: one of heartbreak. The man turned towards her, mouth open angrily, as if he were about to shout, "Another thing!" and continue the argument. But the sight of the photograph distracted him, and his expression softened, too. He stepped closer to his wife, a hand hovering above her shoulder, as if he meant to comfort her, but couldn't quite seem to face it.

"…She isn't Alexei, Helena," he said in a tender voice that surprised Sans; he was so sure the man could only speak in frost and fire.

The woman sniffed. Sans was further startled to find her crying. "I know that," she said, her voice sounding as if she had a bad head cold. "But we've already lost our little boy…I don't want to lose Aeris, too."

Sans' eyes sockets widened. Aeris had a brother? He remembered her distinctly saying that she didn't have any siblings…but then he remembered the way her eyes tightened at the mention of siblings, the way her tone closed the subject when it was brought up.

She had had a brother, apparently. And, if Sans was hearing correctly, something had happened to him. Something tragic.

The mania her parents seemed to have about curing her suddenly made a lot more sense.

Sans watched as the man hesitated a second longer, before his hand finally came down on his wife's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"We will find her, Helena." His voice was low and assuring, and Sans almost found himself believing him, too. "But not today—I have to open the shop, and you're on call."

As if he could predict the future, not a second later, a ring tone sounded from the woman's purse. Swiftly getting herself together, she reached into and pulled out her cell phone.

"Dr. Crown," she answered, her clipped tones making a swift comeback. "…A triple bypass? I'll be there shortly." She hung up and turned to her husband. "You're right. Coming here was a waste of time. Let's go."

They both climbed back into the car. A second later, it was thrown into reverse, speeding out of the parking lot. Sans stepped out from behind the shadow of the tree, feeling like a failure. Here he was, just a couple feet from the distraught couple, carrying all the answers…but he'd said nothing. He'd done nothing. He wasn't any better than Aeris, just sitting around and waiting for Death to claim her. He was pathetic.

Pulling his hood lower over his skull, Sans turned to go…but something fluttering in the wind caught his eye sockets. It looked like a picture—the same picture the woman was holding a moment ago? Had she really just dropped it without noticing? Or was it on purpose, in an attempt to rid herself of painful distractions?

Sans didn't know, but he didn't want it getting away. Checking to make sure that no one was looking, the short skeleton darted into the parking lot, managing to pin the picture down with the toe of his slipper. He stooped down, snatched up the picture, and retreated to the shadows, where he was safe. Slumping behind the large tree, he glanced down at the photo.

It was a photo of Aeris and a boy he didn't know. Aeris looked almost as he imagined her as a young girl—a tangled mess of dark hair, large silver eyes, but her skin was a little more healthy-looking than it was now. And the boy beside her—

Sans felt his breath stop short.

The boy was the spitting image of his father, only much younger; he couldn't be much older than Aeris in the picture. He had dark, thick hair, just like hers, and was grinning a cheeky grin at the camera. His eyes were the color of ice, a light blue that pierced through you—

It was the same color blue as that boy from a long time ago, who had fallen to his knees, clutching a beat up pink glove as blood trickled down his chin, a bone impaling his abdomen.

" _Wh—why…?"_ Sans remembered the child choking out, just before the light left his eyes, and his soul, the same piercing blue as his eyes, ripped in two. Before it could go anywhere, however, Sans had encapsulated the soul, to be delivered to the capital.

' _Why bother asking 'why'?_ ' he remembered thinking to himself, staring down pitilessly at the child's broken body. ' _You wouldn't understand anyway…Soul Number Six._ '

The caption at the bottom of the picture read "Aeris and Alexei, Christmas 2000."

Sans had met Aeris' brother before he even knew she existed.

And he had murdered him.

Chilling fingers of his sin began to crawl down the skeleton's back.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Until Morning

To say the next few days around Aeris and Sans were "awkward" would be like saying Alphys is low-key into anime. The air was thick with tension between them wherever they went, and there was no sign of it letting up anytime in the near future.

This is not to say that certain people did not try their hardest to alleviate the tension.

"You know what's really great? FRIENDSHIP!" Papyrus exclaimed one afternoon, while he, Frisk, Aeris and Sans were all having lunch at Grillby's II. Toriel was on a not-so-secret date with Asgore, and had asked Aeris to babysit Frisk while she was away. Then Frisk heard The Nice Cream guy was giving out free samples of his new flavor of nice cream at Grillby's II, so they dragged Aeris to the restaurant, when who should they run into but the skeleton brothers. Aeris had a nasty feeling that Frisk knew the skeleton brothers would be there, but since she couldn't prove it, she settled for a disapproving look at the child before resigning herself to her fate of having an awkward lunch with the brothers. And now Papyrus was not-so-subtly shouting about friendship while Aeris was doing her best not to look at Sans, picking at her nice cream. Smooth, Papyrus.

"I know it always cheers me up when I have such great FRIENDS to talk to!" Papyrus enunciated again, looking hopeful as he glanced between Aeris and Sans. "Yep, FRIENDSHIP! Nothing in the world like it! …Right, Frisk?" He asked, when Sans and Aeris didn't react to anything he'd said. Frisk currently had their hands and mouth full of ice cream, but at least gave an agreeing nod. This also seemed ineffectual, and Papyrus sighed.

"Seriously," he began in a sad tone, his eye sockets shifting between Sans and Aeris, "are you two even going to TALK to each other ever again?"

Talk? They couldn't even look at each other. Aeris looked up from her nice cream to point this out to Papyrus, but she was immediately distracted by Sans' gaze fixed on her. Heat flooded her cheeks as she stared back at him, embarrassed. It hurt to look at him now, because she couldn't help but remember his expression the last time he looked her way, her blood slapped across his cheek bone like an angry hand print. The look he had given her…it was like she had betrayed him in the worst possible way. And she still felt horrible about it.

He wasn't looking at her that way now, though. His expression was…sad. No, more than that. It was distraught, like _he_ had failed _her_ in some way. Aeris stared at him, confused. Why was he looking at her like that? She would understand if he felt guilty for the way he'd spoken to her the last time they talked, but this guilty look…it went bone deep.

Like a murderer forced to meet the eyes of the woman he made a widow.

Aeris opened her mouth to ask Sans why he looked like that…but a cough escaped instead, followed by another, followed by more. Aeris gripped the table as she coughed, wheezing with the effort to stay upright. She could hear flustered fluttering around her, and something soft and feathery pressed against her cheek. She accepted the tissue and pressed it to her mouth, gasping for air.

When she finally stopped coughing, Aeris drew the tissue back, growing cold at the amount of blood she saw there. The fits were getting worse.

Aeris felt the eyes of every monster in Grillby's II on her, but her eyes sought Sans'. But he was no longer looking at her—his gaze had shifted to the hardly touched ketchup bottle in front of him. The pinpricks of light in his eye sockets had disappeared.

Abruptly, his voice echoed through Aeris' mind:

" _Do you even realize what you're doing to the people who care about you? You're forcing them to watch you die!"_

Aeris' hand closed into a tight fist around the tissue, and she pushed herself to her feet with mild difficulty that she ignored.

"Come on, Frisk. We're leaving," she announced, stacking some gold on the table to pay for her and Frisk's half of the meal. The child stayed put in the booth next to Papyrus, looking troubled.

" _Aeris,_ " they signed, " _if you just talked to Sans—_ "

Aeris had had quite enough of talking about Sans. She raised her hands, signing rapidly back to Frisk, making mistakes in her haste, but she trusted Frisk would get the message:

" _He doesn't want to talk to me, so drop it. I'm in charge of you until Toriel gets back, so I say we're leaving._ _ **Now.**_ "

She jerked her thumb at the door for further emphasis. Frisk frowned, pouting at her, but having no choice, they got up with a small huff. Reaching across the booth, they patted Sans' hand, making the skeleton look up at them. Aeris watched, on pins and needles as Frisk made their next request.

" _Sans. Please?_ "

Sans stared at Frisk. Papyrus and Aeris stared at Sans. The restaurant seemed to hold its breath, waiting…

"See you later, kid," Sans dismissed, his hands reaching out to grip the ketchup bottle in front of him. Frisk's face crumpled, but they had no choice. They took Aeris' outstretched hand, and she marched them out of the restaurant, her head held high.

Sans wanted to play things this way? Fine. He could be stubborn all he wanted. But Aeris wasn't going to sit around and wait for him to grow up. She still had things she wanted to do, and nowhere near enough time to do it. So if Sans wanted to act like she no longer existed, fine with her.

Two could play that game.

* * *

Sans would've thought that Aeris would've moved back in with Toriel by now.

She didn't. She was still staying on their couch. As if she wanted to be a constant reminder of his sins until he owned up to them.

To be fair, she stayed out of his way as often as was possible. When he came home, she went out, and when she came back, Sans was in his room for the night. It wasn't a perfect system, but it was working for them so far.

The only person it was putting a strain on was Papyrus, and while Sans didn't feel that was fair, he didn't see that there was anything he could do about it, either.

"She doesn't want to talk, bro," Sans asserted when Papyrus pleaded for what seemed like the millionth time for them to just make up already. "What she needs is space. And that's what I'm giving her. A galaxy full of it."

Papyrus seemed like he forgot how to be angry at Sans' bad jokes. Sans blamed it on the bitterness that kept creeping into his tone when he least expected it.

"Sans…this is silly. I know you two want to talk to each other, so why are you being so stubborn?"

"Ask her, bro. It's a two-way street, y'know."

Papyrus fidgeted, seeming to struggle with something. Finally, he burst out, "She cried for an hour after you left after your big fight. She really felt bad about it. And she's…she's _dying_ , Sans."

Sans paused. He didn't know Papyrus had become aware of that fact. Then again, if he overheard his and Aeris' argument, it made sense. Sans just hated the fact that his brother had found out this way. That hatred provided the razor edge in his voice as he said shortly,

"People die all the time. But despite her illness, Aeris has proven time and time again that she's a lot tougher than whatever's killing her. I'm not going to coddle her just because she's dying. If she wants to talk to me, she can step up and talk to me. Until then, like I said, I'm giving her a galaxy's worth of space. Now leave it alone, Papyrus."

Sans turned back to his computer, pulling headphones on to block out whatever other argument Papyrus had come up with. He waited, idly clicking on joke links until he heard his brother leave, and then sighed, pulling the headphones off. His self-loathing increased at what he'd just done. Papyrus didn't deserve his ire, he was only trying to help. And Sans was too much of a coward to admit the real reason he didn't want to talk to Aeris, even to his own brother.

Because, as soon as Aeris decided to be the bigger person and step up, Sans was going to have to tell her that he murdered her brother. And any chances of reconciliation were going to be shattered after that.

So, although it was incredibly selfish of him, Sans wasn't going to be the first to say anything. It was up to Aeris when she wanted this thing—and consequently, their friendship—to end. So Sans waited with the racket in his hand, watching the ball bounce slowly in Aeris' half of the court, steadily dreading the swing she would no doubt take, and soon…

Later that night, after hours of aimless wandering, Sans returned to the house. Aeris was asleep on the couch, as if everything was normal, as if nothing was wrong. Sans was both relieved and irritated, jealous of the peaceful sleep that seemed to take her effortlessly. He approached the couch, moodily watching her face. A slight crease was in between her eyebrows, marring her otherwise untroubled face. Hmm. Maybe she didn't sleep as soundly as he believed.

As was his habit now, Sans reached out, pressing two bony fingers into the side of Aeris' neck. The steadily thrumming pulse was still there, slowed, because she was asleep, but still very much present. That assured him, to a degree.

Dropping his hand, Sans stared down at Aeris for a few more seconds, and then turned, heading for the stairs. His foot had just rested on the bottom step when—

"Sans?"

The skeleton jumped. Huh. Rare for Aeris to scare _him_ like that. He turned, half-sure he imagined her voice, but there she was, sitting up on the couch. Her expression screamed for more sleep, but her eyes were alert, watching him. Sans' shoulders slumped.

Welp. The tension was nice while it lasted.

"…Hey," he responded, moving back over to the couch, hands shoved in his pockets, eye sockets on the floor. "Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't." Aeris' voice was soft, exhausted. "I've been sleeping on and off for the past few nights…"

She trailed off, though Sans could tell there was more. He glanced over, her expression of anguish piercing him like a bullet.

"…Sans, this is so stupid," she huffed, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. It was ridiculous how attractive Sans found that. "Why can't we just…?"

"…Start over?" Sans supplied when Aeris left her sentence hanging. He dared to give her a cheeky grin. "Sure, we can do that." Flopping down on the couch next to her, Sans withdrew one of his hands from his pocket, offering it to her. "Hi, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. So, you're a human, right? That's hilarious."

Aeris frowned, though the corners up her lips were twitching, as if she wanted to smile. "Why would it be…" She shook her head, derailing that train of thought. "Never mind. That's not what I meant, anyway. I was going to ask why we couldn't just be mature adults about this."

"Or, you could just shake my hand and set off the whoopee cushion trick, and we can giggle about it like huge dorks," Sans suggested, pointing to the mini whoopee cushion he did indeed have attached to his hand now. Aeris eyed his hand, and then gave it a playful swat.

"Come on, I'm serious," she said with a not-so-serious grin. She sobered after a second, however. "…I'm sorry I hit you."

Sans let his hand drop, putting it back into his pocket as he shrugged. "It didn't hurt," he said.

Aeris tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes speculative. "Didn't it?" She asked softly, looking at him as if she already knew the answer. But of course she knew the answer. She knew everything.

Sans looked away from her. "…Sorry I called you pathetic," he apologized after a moment of silence. It surprised him when Aeris snorted.

"Don't be," she said, and he looked over to see she was giving him an awkward smile. "You weren't exactly wrong, were you? I mean, here I am, just like you said, waiting for Death. I've been refusing to take medicine, which gave me the control I wanted over this, I guess…but I'm not exactly helping myself either, am I?"

Aeris sighed, propping her head and folded arms up on her knees. Sans watched as she closed her eyes, looking as if she might sleep. "…Maybe Frisk was right. Maybe I should contact my parents. Maybe…maybe they _can_ help me…"

Sans swallowed. They had arrived at the subject. Aeris brought it up. It seemed like as good a time as any to ruin the night.

The skeleton drew the photograph out of his pocket. He made himself look at the boy in the picture, meeting those ice blue eyes that he had watched drain of life. Silently, he wondered if the boy knew, somewhere, that Sans was about to start atoning for his death. And then he wondered if it would make the boy feel any better if he knew that Sans was about to hurt his sister.

"What're you looking at?" He heard Aeris ask, scooting forward to take a closer look.

Sans inhaled and exhaled slowly. Now or never.

"A picture," he said quietly, turning it so that Aeris could have a better look. He watched as her eyes widened a second after she laid eyes on it, processing rapidly. Slowly, she reached out a shaking hand for the picture. Sans let her have it, willing himself to look at her, despite every instinct screaming at him to turn away. Aeris brought the photo up to her face and stared, as if she believed that if she stared long enough, the photo would change.

"…Where did you get this?" Her voice was hushed, as if she was afraid of waking the dead just by talking about the picture.

"Your mother dropped it," Sans admitted, his voice hollow. He watched as Aeris' bewildered gaze switched from the picture to his face.

"What?"

"I contacted them a week ago," Sans admitted, needing to get it all out, now that the ball was rolling, the momentum an unstoppable force. "I thought, if I said something to them, told them where you were, that they might be able to talk some sense into you."

Aeris' mouth opened, but all she seemed able to do was stare at him in shock. Which was good, because now that Sans started, he couldn't stop, or he would lose his non-existent nerve.

"But I couldn't approach them. They waited and waited, but I couldn't…I couldn't face them. And then your mother started talking about him. About Alexei."

The name burned in his mouth, like a poison. Swallowing, Sans kept going.

"She dropped the picture when she got a call from the hospital she works in. And I picked it up. At first, I didn't recognize him. But the longer I stared…"

Sans was shaking. He was actually shaking. It had been a really long time since he'd felt like this, and he didn't appreciate the relapse at all. He made himself swallow and finish the story.

"…The longer I stared…the more I realized. I'd seen that kid before. He…he had wandered into the Underground, once upon a time. And…"

Sans' gaze lowered to the couch, his trembling fingers curling into fists. He could feel his power flaring, as if muscle memory was reminding him of what he did, taking him through the motions as he took the soul of what he originally believed to be an inconsequential child…

"…And I killed him."

It was so silent that Sans could hear his bones rattling as he trembled. He didn't dare look up from the couch, at what expression Aeris was making. He was too afraid. It would be better if she was screaming, or if she hit him again. But when she wasn't doing anything….

"…Ha…"

Sans froze.

"Ha ha ha…"

Laughing? …She was laughing? Why was she laughing? Sans didn't get it. What exactly about this situation was supposed to be funny?

Though everything inside him screamed not to do it, he looked up. Aeris had a hand over her eyes, blocking them from view. She was still giggling weakly, in a way that made unease settle in the pit of Sans' non-existent stomach.

"…Aeris…?" He dared to question her, beginning to reach out to her before remembered himself and let his hand drop back to the couch. "Why…are you laughing…?"

"Ahahaha…ah ha…ha… it's nothing…" she said, her eyes still covered as a tremulous smile spread across her lips. "I…I just wish I realized it earlier…"

Something cold and sharp suddenly cut through Sans. He lurched forward with a choked cry of surprise, his eye sockets widening as he tried to process what had just happened—

A dagger was sticking out of his sternum, Aeris' free hand wrapped around the hilt. Sans coughed, choking on ketchup that was beginning to leak out of him as he shakily met Aeris' eyes. The hand covering them had moved, and she stared down coldly at him, her silver eyes replaced with frighteningly red irises, her grin twisting maniacally.

"…That you're a _dirty brother killer_ …"

Suddenly, Sans wasn't there anymore. He was standing in a time machine, watching the world end beneath his feet. A tall skeleton in a dapper suit clutched at the edge of the open door, a large, fiery mass of power swirling beneath him, as if calling him home. His body was being sucked in, the gravity too powerful, despite his and Sans' best efforts to resist it. And Sans was pulling with all his might on the skeleton's wrists. It would not end this way. He would _not_ lose him like this!

" _Sans, it's no use," the tall skeleton grumbled, even as sweat beaded Sans' skull as he tugged with all his might._ " _If you hold on, you'll be sucked in as well._ "

" _I'm not letting you go, Gaster!" Sans huffed, ignoring the fact that his grip on the skeleton was beginning to slip. "We just made a slight error! Once I get you back in here, we can go back and fix it!"_

" _No," Gaster said sadly as Sans' grip on him slipped by another millimeter, "this wasn't an accident, Sans. This is my punishment for trying to play God."_

" _You will not die here, Gaster!" Now Sans was desperate, trying to regain a firm grip on the other skeleton. "We can fix this! We will fix it!"_

" _No." Sans stared at the face of his mentor, stared into the resigned eye sockets of the skeleton he admired above everyone else… "You cannot fix it, Sans. It is over. You have to accept that."_

" _No!" Sans cried, but his grip on Gaster was down to their fingertips. Somewhere in his rational mind, he knew he only had seconds before gravity won, before his grip completely slipped and the world he once knew was lost forever…_

" _I love you, Sans," Gaster said, managing a smile even as his doom tugged at him from below. "Take care of yourself. And your brother…take care of your brother, Sans."_

 _At last, Sans' grip failed. And Gaster fell, free-falling to his demise as Sans could only look on in horror, tears streaming down his face._

" _Gaster! GASTER! DAD!"_

"Sans?"

Sans jerked up, his left eye socket flaring with blue flame. He reacted quickly, summoning his charging blaster as he flung a blue bone—

It sank into the opposite wall, missing Aeris' face by inches. Sans' heavy breath hitched, staring at the white face that stared back at him in the glow of his sleeping computer monitor, shock on her face, terror in her eyes. Dismissing his blaster, he looked around, more than a little disoriented. Where was he?

The familiar chaos of his room came into focus, but it did nothing to ease his fear. He pressed a hand over his left eye socket and forced himself to breathe, his sweat-soaked t-shirt sticking to his bones. His free eye socket glanced up at Aeris, noticing that she had a hand raised, as if she meant to touch him. Her presence brought things into focus faster.

"Aeris." His voice was rough, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the nightmares, or because of the riot of emotions Aeris invoked in him when he looked at her nowadays. "What…what are you doing here…?"

Aeris seemed to have trouble with the question. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times; it wasn't until her eighth try that she got words to come out.

"…There was…glowing light…under your door… I…I thought something was wrong…" She eyed him up and down, and Sans could tell from the look in her eyes that she believed her suspicions to be correct. She lowered her hand, letting it rest on her thigh as she stared at him. "…Are you okay?"

Sans almost wanted to laugh out loud at that question. If there was ever a time where he was the furthest from okay nowadays, it was now.

"M'fine," he lied anyway, working to get his breathing and his powers under control. "Go back to bed."

"You are _not_ fine," Aeris asserted, her eyes crinkling in concern. There was the strange desire to laugh again, as Sans registered and accepted the irony of the role reversal in this situation. Oh, sure, Aeris could lie about being okay, but when _he_ tried to do it…

The memory of the nightmare in which she stabbed him, red eyes blazing with that twisted grin, sent a shiver up Sans' spine. He slid away from her, trying to ignore the hurt that flashed in her eyes when she realized what he was doing.

"Aeris…go away," he huffed, putting his head in his hands. "Please. Just leave me alone."

Aeris didn't move. He could feel her gaze on him, intense as always, but he didn't look up at her. He couldn't face her right now, not with how raw he was feeling. Why couldn't she just leave him to suffer in peace?

As if she heard his thoughts, finally, she got up and left the room. Sans let out a shaky breath, clenching his teeth together. It had been a long time—a very long time—since he dreamed of Gaster's death. Mostly, the guy just haunted him in his other dreams, speaking in a strange tongue Sans couldn't decipher.

It had been years since W. D. Gaster's demise. And, apparently, Sans was still not over it.

A shadow fell over his doorway. Sans jumped, but it was just Aeris. She entered once again, shutting the door behind her with difficulty, because her arms were full with her blanket and pillow. Sans could only stare at her as she marched forward, a familiar stubborn expression on her face.

"Move over," she ordered, standing beside the bed.

Sans gaped at her. "Wha—"

"Move over," she insisted again, dumping her blanket and pillow on him. Sans moved back automatically, freeing himself of the sheet prison, staring some more as Aeris fluffed her pillow and set it at the top of the bed, before moving to smooth out her blanket. Making herself comfortable, despite the fact that Sans hadn't invited her to. What did she think she was doing?

"Aeris," he grumbled, but she studiously ignored him, fussing with the corners of her blanket until they were just right. Then, she laid down on the blanket, her hair sprawling over the pillow. She turned to Sans, eyes serious as she reached out to him.

"Come here," she commanded, though her voice was soft. Sans stared at her some more, completely bewildered.

"Aeris," he tried again, about to demand that she leave, because really, this was just her being rude, when she sat up. Whatever protests he was about to voice died in his throat as he stared up at her. Her eyes gazed at him with an expression so tender that he momentarily forgot how to breathe. New shivers ran down the skeleton's spine, though these were for decidedly different reasons.

"Sans," Aeris murmured, her voice as tender as her eyes as she reached out to him again, "come here."

Sans stared at her. The shaking wouldn't stop. The way she was looking at him was too much. He had no idea how to even move to her. He was half-convinced that her touch alone would tear him apart.

Aeris didn't wait for him to obey the summons. She moved to him, unabashed and unafraid as her fingers slid over his bones, moving until they met at the back of his t-shirt, where they laced themselves together, holding him to her. Sans rattled as she laid her cheek on top of his skull, his face pressed into her neck. He could feel the thrum of her pulse on his forehead, felt it racing through her skin, the only indicator that she might not be as calm as she looked.

That was the little detail that finally undid him. He reached up, his bony fingers digging into the back of her nightshirt, nearly ripping it with how tight he clutched at her, as if she would slip away if he dared to slacken his grip even a little bit. His breathing grew heavy again, hitching in odd ways, and it wasn't until he felt the moisture on his cheek bones that he realized he was crying. He let out a choked sob, and Aeris made soothing noises, running her hands up and down his spine in comfort. They stayed that way for a long time, long after Sans' tears dried, and he just held her, exhausted in more ways than one. The peace of the moment would've been perfect…if it weren't for Sans' guilty conscience knocking on the back of his skull, reminding him that he was sinning just by allowing himself to hold this girl, knowing how he had torn her family asunder…

"Aeris," he whispered, beginning to shake again, only for Aeris to shush him.

"Go to sleep, Sans," she urged him. He felt her arms tighten around him, and another shiver coursed down his spine.

"Aeris," he tried again, pulling back to look at her. He had no idea what he looked like to her, shivering like a child, feeling desperate as he gazed up into her face. But Aeris' soft look didn't relent, and she patiently brushed the remainder of his tears away from his cheekbones with her thumbs.

"It can wait until morning," she assured him, a small smile curving her lips. It only served to make Sans' guilt worse, and he opened his mouth to tell her everything, everything he'd done for her and to her, because he couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand the way she was looking at him, knowing that he had hurt her, and that he'd have to hurt her again because she had to know the truth, and he didn't deserve that tender look in her eyes, or the way she stroked his face, or—

Aeris kissed his forehead. It was soft, hesitant, the barest brush of her lips grazing his skull. But then she kissed his forehead again, the movement becoming more sure, more loving. Sans froze as she kissed the spot right between his eyes, his right cheek bone, then his left cheek bone. Her lips lingered there a little longer, as if she remembered the past pain she had inflicted there, and wanted to ease it, one kiss at a time.

Sans grit his teeth, his grip on her nightshirt tightening once again, his breath quickening.

" _Aeris,_ " he breathed, nearly choking over her name this time. He had never been touched this way before, and he had no idea how to handle it. But with such simple touches, she was doing things to him that he wasn't even aware were possible. She had to stop, or she would break him completely.

Aeris' breath brushed his cheek, a little unsteady. He watched the movement of her throat as she swallowed…and then she pulled back, resting her forehead against his, her eyes closed.

"Until morning," she said again.

And Sans, afraid that she would keep kissing him if he didn't give in, finally nodded.

Aeris laid them down on their sides. She refused to stop touching him, still hugging him to her, her head still resting on top of his. Sans could do nothing but allow it, not realizing until much later that this—being held like this—was exactly what he needed. He breathed slowly, listening to Aeris' breath even out as she fell asleep before him. Her pulse began to slow, still beating against his forehead. Sans was grateful for it, for he was certain that, if it wasn't for Aeris' heartbeat, he never would have been able to go back to sleep.

As his eye sockets drifted closed, however, a troubling thought added itself to the list of things Sans needed to be guilty about, right under fighting with Aeris, letting her parents down and murdering her brother:

Despite his best efforts, he had fallen completely in love with this stubborn, dying, beautiful human.

Life really was cruel.

* * *

 **A/N : You guys have really made me love writing these two. Thank you so much for your support! This chapter is my love letter to you, dear readers~**

 **~Reyna**


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Why Not?

Birds were chirping outside. For the life of him, Sans never understood that. Why did such small creatures feel the need to shriek at the sight of dawning light? Who knows: maybe they had some sort of bone to pick with the sun. A very small, very light bone…

Sans' jokes were even crappier when he was just waking up.

The skeleton blinked his eye sockets open, meaning to stretch…but his arms were trapped at his sides. Waking up more rapidly now, he looked up for the source of the trouble.

Aeris' face was inches from his, still fast asleep. Her lips were parted slightly, her breath washing over his face. Sans fought his rising blush down, reflecting that Aeris could really use a breath mint right about now, clinging to that little detail so he didn't dissolve into a flustered mess.

Slowly, details of the night before came back to him, piece by piece. The nightmares he had, one of the past, and one of a very possible future. Nearly skewering Aeris when she made the mistake of waking him. Falling apart in her arms as she held him, comforted him, kissed him…

Okay, that bit wasn't helping with the 'keeping calm' attitude he was trying to employ at the moment.

Sans breathed slowly, staring at Aeris' face. He thought about slipping from her grasp, but he was almost afraid it would disturb her sleep…and then they would have to talk.

" _Until morning,"_ Aeris had promised. Right now, morning felt like a death sentence.

The skeleton sighed, tempted to go back to sleep. He couldn't lie—he was comfortable here, in Aeris' arms. She was soft and warm…again, having skin seemed to have its perks. And, other than her morning breath, she smelled good, like Toriel's pies, or Papyrus' spaghetti, or the snow on pine trees…

She smelled like home.

Aeris coughed. Sans stiffened, but it was a baby cough, little more than a hiccup. She continued to sleep, arms wrapped around him, without a care in the world. Again, Sans envied her effortless sleep. But he wouldn't tear her from it, if he could help it.

Sans tried to shift over, see if he could get freedom by backing up. Aeris' arms tightened around him in response, as if she sensed escape and was determined to prevent it, even in her sleep. The skeleton sighed again. Looked as if he'd have to resign himself to his fate.

He was facing her chest now. This didn't particularly bother him, but he wondered if Aeris would be embarrassed by it, since she worried about human things like that. Sans grinned to himself, imagining her reaction if she woke up with him like this. Her chest fell and rose evenly, slowly—

Abruptly, Sans remembered Frisk tugging Aeris' soul into view. Silver, just like her eyes, with a crack splitting it down the middle, representing her time left…

Sans found himself raising a hand, hovering from Aeris' chest. How much time did she have left now? Days? Hours? Would she die here, asleep in his bed, before either of them realized it, before Sans could say everything he meant to say to her?

He had to know. It was a serious invasion of privacy, but considering everything he'd done to Aeris thus far, this sin would hardly weigh the heaviest. Sans held his breath and concentrated, focusing on pulling Aeris' soul forward, into view. A light began to glow around her chest—

A pale hand grabbed his, squeezing his bony fingers together. Sans' breath whooshed out in surprise, eye sockets flashing up to meet Aeris' eyes. They were still closed, but she was frowning now.

"Dude," she grumbled, her voice rough with sleep, her eyes half-lidded when she finally opened them, brow puckering at Sans, "you can't just tug it out like that. Rude."

"That's what she said," Sans replied, unable to help himself. Aeris' lips twitched.

"Said no man ever," she countered after a yawn. She closed her eyes again, seeming in no hurry to release Sans' hand. "Seriously. What're you doing?"

Sans reluctantly sobered. Well…she _did_ say until morning…

"…I wanted to see how big the crack had gotten," he admitted. Aeris opened her eyes again, watching him for a moment. If she seemed surprised at his knowledge over her cracked soul, she didn't show it.

"That's a serious invasion of privacy," she told him, raising her eyebrows to offset her scolding tone.

This made Sans grin. "Says the woman who climbed into my bed without permission last night."

Aeris had the decency to blush. "Don't say it like that. I feel like some sort of temptress when you say it like that."

"You are a temptress," Sans said, only half-joking. "With that bed head and that gunk in your sleepy eyes? You're drivin' me crazy, Princess."

Aeris made a face at him, and began to sit up.

"Move. My arm's asleep because of you," she demanded, poking his skull. Sans sat up obligingly, and Aeris shook out her arm, flexing her fingers. "Jeez. You know, for just a skeleton, you sure are heavy."

Sans thought of a couple weight puns to throw around, but surprisingly, now didn't seem like a good time. He merely watched as she rubbed at her eyes and finger-combed her hair, apparently taking his comment to heart. Was she really that self-conscious around him?

As if she could feel him staring, Aeris glanced over at him while in the process of trying to get her hair to behave. She seemed to give up after a moment, and turned to fully face him, her eyes somber.

"So," she began with an air that suggested she wasn't excited to have this conversation, "are we still fighting?"

Sans thought about that. Honestly? It would be easier to say yes—then they could go back to trying to ignore each other, and Sans didn't have to obliterate whatever was left of their friendship. He could carry this weight, carry it with him either to his grave…or to Aeris', which was admittedly fast-approaching.

But when the skeleton looked into her eyes, he knew "easier" wouldn't be "better". And Aeris deserved better from him. She would even if he didn't love her.

"I don't want to fight anymore," he admitted honestly. A small smile tilted the Aeris' mouth, and she held out a hand.

"Truce?" She offered.

Sans grinned a little, resisting the urge to whip out a whoopee cushion as he shook Aeris' hand. Just this once, though.

"You're oddly formal this morning," he observed, winking at her. "I miss the kisses from last night."

Aeris blushed red, and Sans' grin widened. Oh, look who was all bashful, now that they had a night to sleep on their actions.

"About that," she mumbled, looking highly embarrassed, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by her surprised coughing after the door was suddenly thrown open.

"SANS! HAVE YOU SEEN…oh." Papyrus trailed off, and Sans stiffened. Well, this could only end badly…

"Papyrus," he began, searching for a way to explain, but after a moment, Papyrus' face lit up.

"So! You two made up! THAT'S GREAT!" He cheered, and then scowled. "But you could've invited me to your make-up sleepover, you know! I've been worried, too!"

"Sorry, Papyrus," Aeris wheezed, fighting for her breath after her latest coughing fit. She rubbed at her mouth, glancing over at Sans. "It was kind of…impromptu."

"Well! Next time, I, the GREAT Papyrus, would like to be invited to an impromptu sleepover!" Papyrus assured her, posing dramatically. And Sans felt guilt and relief in equal measures. Dear, sweet, innocent Papyrus.

"Anyway, this calls for a celebration!" Papyrus decided, clapping his bony hands together. "My SPECIAL spaghetti recipe for breakfast! No need to thank me! NYEH HEH HEH!"

As he rattled away to make the spaghetti, Sans let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"There's a fine line between reward and punishment in this house," he remarked, and Aeris flicked the side of his skull.

"Stop it. He's just happy to know we made up." But the way she glanced at him and then away, red blooming in her cheeks, let Sans know that he wasn't alone in believing that 'making up' wasn't all there was to last night.

As Aeris got up, clearly meaning to leave, Sans caught her hand. An unexpected fear seized him, that if Aeris left his room, the peace and understanding they'd finally gained would be shattered, and he needed this safe space to be able to tell her everything, or he'd never have the courage again.

"Aeris," he began, and Aeris turned to him, looking apprehensive; he wondered what kind of face he was making to make her look like that. "I need to talk to you."

Aeris paused, gazing at him. Then her eyes travelled to the door, where they could hear Papyrus rattling around in the kitchen, clearly in high spirits. Her lips pursed, she turned back to Sans.

"Later, okay?" She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but Sans held tight, clenching his teeth.

"You said," he started, lowering his voice as though he didn't want the walls to hear, "until morning."

Aeris frowned, like she didn't like being reminded of her words from the night before. She sank down onto her knees, gently disengaging her hand from his, both her hands smoothing over Sans' cheek bones, holding his skull in place. Sans froze, her touch too intimate, reminding him of last night. She leaned forward, determination in her eyes, and a thrill shot through Sans, thinking she was going to kiss him again—

She stopped just short of his face, her eyes intense as she stared at him.

"Later," she whispered, her thumbs stroking his cheek bones, "I promise."

Wordless, Sans could only nod meekly. Aeris smiled and regained her feet, her fingertips trailing across his cheekbones as she walked away. Sans stared dumbly after her as she left his room, equal parts relieved and disappointed that she didn't kiss him again. He was also not quite sure about the whole "humans can't do magic" thing, since that was now twice that Aeris had gotten him to do what she wanted.

Whatever spell she had him under, it was clearly a powerful one.

* * *

Papyrus was on Cloud Nine. Sans hadn't realized what his fight with Aeris was doing to his brother, but now that they had called a truce, Papyrus was practically walking on air. And Sans felt so guilty about this that he did something he thought he'd never do:

He took Papyrus to a live show featuring Mettaton and his music group.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" Papyrus cheered, jumping along with everyone else, riding the high from the energy of the crowd. "SANS, WHY DON'T WE HAVE GLOW STICKS? LOOK AT THESE THINGS, THEY'RE AMAZING! WE SHOULD GET ONE FOR EVERY ROOM!"

Sans grinned to himself. Personally, he found it odd that so many humans and monsters could mingle like this without problems, in the middle of the day, in an abandoned warehouse, where the concert was being held. Didn't these people have jobs? Not that Sans was one to talk, but still.

Well, at least Shyren looked happy. And to think, Sans had sold out of tickets for her first concert ever. He was so proud.

The highlight of Papyrus' afternoon was probably when Mettaton began to set up for his solo, "You Light My Circuits On Fire". As if he knew he was there all along, Mettaton picked Papyrus out of the crowd and invited him onto the stage to sing to. Sans thought his brother would die of excitement, and it was only with mild trepidation that he urged his brother forward, making a hasty vow with himself not to fling the robot off the stage if he got too chummy with Papyrus. After all, if attention from the flamboyant robot made Papyrus happy, who was Sans to stand in the way?

…Okay, so his guilt might've played a huge factor into it as well. But no one else had to know that.

"THAT. WAS. AMAZING!" Papyrus was still cheering as they were heading home in the evening, decked out in nearly all the merchandise they had for sale at the concert. There was also a very ostentatious kiss mark on the side of the skeleton's skull, and Sans was doing his utmost best to ignore it. "THE PASSION! THE DRAMA! There was no bloodshed, but I AM OKAY WITH THAT! Whew!"

Papyrus rubbed sweat from his forehead, blushing a little. "I just wish Princess could've come with us," he reflected to himself, "too bad she had to work, huh?"

Sans paused, his eye sockets on the snow. "About her…" he began, keeping his head down as he spoke, "…I need to tell you something, Papyrus."

He heard Papyrus pause a couple steps away from him.

"What is it, Sans?" He asked curiously.

Sans' hands clenched in his pockets. He'd been trying to figure out a way to say this all day, but it had been verrry slow-going. After all, how did you tell your brother that you were in love with his crush?

And Sans wasn't sure of his motivations behind telling Papyrus anyway. What did he expect Papyrus to do, back off? Sans would never ask him to—he absolutely refused to do so—but if he knew Papyrus, he knew that his brother would just want him to be happy. But Sans wanted Papyrus to be happy just as much, if not more. So, if Aeris made him happy, who was Sans to stand in the way of that? Nobody.

Then it was decided. He'd make Papyrus aware of his feelings for Aeris, but assure him that he didn't plan to act on them. After all, Papyrus confessed his attraction to her first. And it totally made sense for Aeris to be happier with Papyrus than with him. It was only fair…wasn't it?

Sans grit his teeth, steeling himself. He could do this. He could give up Aeris. He had to. He didn't deserve her anyway.

He looked up, meaning to tell Papyrus exactly how he felt—but something distracted him. Something sprawled out in the snow, a distance away from him and Papyrus. Something with dark, tangled hair and a lanky form…

Sans stopped breathing.

"AERIS!" He shouted.

"What about her?" Papyrus asked, bewildered by Sans' sudden shout, but the short skeleton was rushing past him, sliding in the snow in his haste to get to Aeris. She was face down when reached her…not a good sign.

Panicking, Sans rolled her over. Her face looked still. Too still. Shaking, he reached out, pressing his fingers to her neck. For one heart-stopping moment, he couldn't find her pulse. But then it was there, beating faintly against his fingers, but still present. Brief, painful relief washed through him. She was still alive. But only just.

"Papyrus!" Sans shouted over his shoulder for his brother, "Help me!"

Papyrus stood there, dazed for a moment, staring at Aeris' still form. It wasn't until Sans called for him again, his voice cracking this time, that the tall skeleton jarred himself into action. Together, they lifted Aeris into Papyrus' arms, and Sans teleported them to Toriel's. He didn't know how much time Aeris had left, but he didn't want to waste a second of it walking.

Sans slammed his hand on Toriel's door three times.

' _Please be home, please be home, please be home,_ ' was the chanted mantra in his head, his panic rising with every second that Toriel failed to answer the door. Finally, the door was pulled open, and there stood Frisk, still holding their fork from dinner. Their mouth popped open at the sight of Aeris.

"Kid," Sans greeted, seizing Frisk's shoulders, " _please_ tell me Tori's home."

Frisk nodded hurriedly, and ran to get her. Sans moved aside so Papyrus could bring Aeris in, and a moment later, Toriel was rushing out of her room.

"Oh my!" She cried, her hands flying to her mouth at the sight of Aeris. "What happened?!"

"We found her," Sans said, feeling short of breath, "collapsed in the snow. Please help her, Tori. _Please._ "

"Of course." Toriel carefully took Aeris from Papyrus' arms, cradling her as if she were nothing more than a child. She rushed off to the guest room, calling for Frisk to bring her the first aid kit. Frisk obliged, and they shut the door to the guest room.

Which left the skeleton brothers to wait.

This did not sit well with Sans. As Papyrus paced with a worried look on his face, Sans sat in Toriel's armchair, his head between his hands as his mind spiraled out of control.

How did this happen? Had she had a fit and passed out in the snow? If so, how come Sans hadn't found any blood like last time? Did something attack her? No, again, he hadn't found anything marking Aeris. Then again, he was more than a little frantic, so maybe he didn't get a good look. If she _had_ been attacked, then he would annihilate whatever was responsible. But if she hadn't…if this was just nature taking its course…

The tips of Sans' fingertips scraped against his skull as he agonized.

Was this it? Was Aeris finally out of time? She had stopped him from peering into her soul earlier; at the time, he thought it was because he was being rude. But what if Aeris knew that she would die today? What if _that_ was the reason she had stopped him from taking a look?

But then, if she knew, why wouldn't she let him talk to her? If she knew she would die today, why would she promise that she would listen to what he had to say later? Had she promised just to stall him, knowing that she might never hear what he needed to tell her?

Anger and uncertainty warred in Sans' mind, clashing painfully and making him wince.

How could she do this to him?

' _She wouldn't do that._ '

How did he know?

' _I've known her for almost two months. I know what she's like._ '

Was he sure?

' _She wouldn't blow me off, knowing that I had something important to tell her—_ '

Even though there were clearly more important things on her mind? Like her untimely demise?

Sans had no answer for that. Still, the questions circled each other in his mind, rattling around in his skull like angry, ricocheting wasps. They rebounded everywhere inside his cranium, stinging everything they touched, making his head throb. He clutched it more tightly, squeezing his eye sockets shut, willing the world to stop turning just for one minute—

"She's all right," said a soft voice.

Sans' head snapped up, fixing on Toriel's face. She looked tired, as if this experience had aged her, but she still smiled.

"It's a fever," she reported, and Sans became able to feel his limbs again. "I noticed she was a little off today, but I thought it was just…you know. Turns out, she has a temperature of a hundred and one degrees, and the average temperature for humans is ninety-eight point six. It'll take some time for her to cool down…but I think she'll be fine."

Sans processed this as fast as he could, considering his brain seemed to be jammed, like someone had shoved peanut butter inside his skull. "She's not dying?" he wanted to verify, his voice weak with relief.

Though Toriel still smiled, her eyes turned grim. "No more than usual," she assured him.

That was all Sans needed to hear. He got up from the armchair and hurried down the hall.

"Sans, wait!" Toriel protested, but the skeleton ignored her, heading into the guest room.

Aeris was asleep, though this slumber did not appear peaceful like usual. Her face was flushed, and she twitched in her sleep, as if uncomfortable. There was cooling pad on her forehead, but she was still sweating bullets. Sans stood beside her bed, breathing slowly to calm himself down. He reached out and took one of Aeris' hands in both of his, his fingers trembling. He never thought he'd be so relieved to feel warm skin, even if it was too warm, like Aeris'.

"Mmn…" Aeris opened her eyes slowly, her eyes out of focus.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Sans joked with a small chuckle. He had definitely made Aeris regret her decision to marathon the Disney Princess movies with him, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys and Frisk—now he had never-ending joke material at his disposal, and there was nothing she could do about it.

If she was feeling better, there was no doubt in Sans' mind that she would've scowled at him while trying to hide a smile for calling her by the name of her least-favorite Disney princess ("She's so ineffectual it makes me want to cry," she had complained once to Sans). Sans blamed it on the fever when she did nothing but smile vaguely.

"Back here again. I'm getting déjà vu," she said. Her fingers wrapped around Sans', and he gave her hand a squeeze.

"You were in Tori's room last time, though."

"Oh, right." With what seemed like a large effort, Aeris focused on Sans. "I remember now…I asked if you were Death the first time I saw you…"

"You did. That's racist, y'know," Sans told her gravely, "I'm thinking of filing a complaint."

Aeris laughed a little. It was a pathetic shade of her true laugh.

"Sorry," she apologized, and Sans could practically feel her energy draining. She closed her eyes, apparently too tired to keep them open anymore. "That's right…you had something you wanted to say to me, didn't you…?"

Oh, sure. She chooses _now_ to bring that up.

"Later," Sans quoted her, brushing stray strands of her hair away from her forehead with his free hand, his other hand still keeping a tight hold on Aeris. "Let's wait until you feel better, okay? _Then_ I'll ruin your day."

Aeris' brow puckered. "Is it that bad…?"

"It's worse," Sans promised her, not even able to joke about it. "But worry about it later, okay? Just rest for now."

Aeris yawned. "Yeah…like I'll be able to fall asleep after hearing that…"

Despite her words, she did, quite effortlessly. And Sans watched her, still keeping hold of her hand, even as her fingers loosened. She was a lot more trusting of him staying put this time than she was last night, when she gripped him so tightly, even in her sleep. Maybe something in his expression told her that there was no way he'd be moving from her side this time around. Not by choice, anyway.

"Brother?"

Sans looked over at Papyrus, who stood in the doorway, looking awkward.

Uh-oh. Papyrus only called Sans that when one of them was in trouble. Looking at his brother's face now, Sans had a bad feeling that it was him this time.

"Er…may I speak with you?" The tall skeleton brother requested, oddly formal. Sans gave him a long look, and then glanced down at Aeris. He hesitated.

"…Is it important, Papyrus?" He wanted to check, hating how he was prioritizing things right now—Aeris had really just turned his whole world upside-down, hadn't she?

Papyrus paused, as if surprised by the question. Sans wouldn't blame him—despite his laziness, he usually came running whenever Papyrus called, whatever the problem was. Sans had never had to ask whether it was important or not before. Again, Sans blamed Aeris.

Papyrus' gaze fell on Aeris' hand, the one Sans was holding as if his life depended on it. As if he just realized he was still holding it, Sans dropped her hand, but the damage was already done.

"Yes, it is important, Brother," Papyrus decided. Trying not to sigh, Sans reluctantly left the room, following his brother back to the living room. Sans could hear Toriel and Frisk in the kitchen, where Toriel was apparently making soup for Aeris. For the first time, Sans didn't feel compelled to join them and watch over Frisk. It surprised him just how much he had changed in just two months.

Once again, he blamed Aeris.

"What's up, bro?" Sans dared to ask, trying to keep things light, at the very least. Papyrus had his back to him, which Sans didn't like—it meant that Papyrus was purposefully trying to hide his feelings from him.

"…I figured it out," the tall skeleton said quietly. Sans wished he would turn around and face him. "That's what you were trying to tell me earlier, wasn't it?"

Papyrus slowly turned to face Sans. Sans, who had been expecting sadness or anger from his brother, received a shock when he deciphered the look on Papyrus' face: it was sheepish.

"You're in love with Princess," Papyrus announced in a tone that suggested it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sans thought he heard the sound of chopping falter in the kitchen.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah," he confirmed, dejected.

Neither of them spoke for a long minute.

"Then…last night, you two were—"

"Nothing happened," Sans assured Papyrus. He paused and sighed, feeling like that was a lie. "Well…something happened. But I think she was only trying to comfort me after a nightmare I had." That was the only thing it could be, after all. It wasn't as if Aeris actually felt the same way about Sans…

"Heh," Papyrus laughed, rubbing the back of his skull, his expression still awkward. "I feel like…I should've known. I mean, you're my brother. I may not know everything, but I thought I'd be able to pick up on something like this, at least. I guess not, though. Nyeh heh…heh…"

"Papyrus," Sans began, forcing himself to meet his brother's eye sockets. "I'm sorry. Really. I did everything I could—I tried—"

"I don't blame you, Sans," Papyrus assured his brother, though it made him feel worse instead of better, "I told you she was pretty, right? It was only a matter of time before you noticed, too, I guess."

Papyrus laughed a little to himself. "But you don't just think she's pretty, right? I've noticed: you think she's funny, too. And smart. She makes you laugh, and you always look like you're having a great time when you're with her. You two get along so well that I was really surprised by the fight you had. And it looked like it was hurting you both a lot, being near each other, but not being able to talk because of hurt feelings. I kind of wondered why you two were acting so weirdly…but I guess it all makes sense now. After all, love isn't exactly rational, is it?"

"Whoa, Papyrus," Sans said, a little unnerved by just how much his brother had observed, as well as what he was misunderstanding. "You've got it all wrong. Aeris and I…she doesn't love me. Not like that."

This news seemed to surprise Papyrus. "She doesn't?"

"No."

"She told you this?"

Sans side-stepped that question. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how Aeris felt about him. Only she knew, didn't she? He was heavily leaning towards 'not', however: after all, the species debate notwithstanding, what kind of sense did it make for her to fall in love with someone like him? Didn't she have better things to do with the limited time she had left on this earth?

"That's not the point, Pap. The point is, I was going to tell you earlier that I…that I have feelings for Aeris, because you deserved to know. But I was also going to tell you that I wasn't going to pursue it."

Papyrus stared at him, his mouth slightly open. "What?"

"I'm not going to do anything about it," Sans assured his brother, with a grin that was barely there. "After all…you're a lot cooler than me, bro. And Aeris probably likes you. So, if you want her—"

"That…IS THE MOST BONEHEADED THING I'VE EVER HEARD YOU SAY!" Papyrus suddenly shouted, startling Sans with his abrupt anger. The short skeleton stared up at his brother, who glared furiously down at him, stomping his foot in rage. "SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! HOW COULD YOU SAY THOSE THINGS?!"

"Wha—" Sans began, but Papyrus cut him off, still in a rage.

"I KNOW THAT I AM VERY COOL! I SAY SO IN THE MIRROR EVERY NIGHT BEFORE I GO TO BED! BUT BEING COOL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS AT ALL! THIS IS ABOUT FEELINGS, AND EMOTIONS, AND, AND—"

"Papyrus!" Sans called, further alarmed to see that his brother was beginning tear up, "calm down!"

"NYAAAAAH HAH HAAAAAH!" Papyrus cried, and a gush of tears exploded from his eye sockets. Sans could only watch, dumbstruck, as his brother sank down on the couch, covering his face with his hands as he wept noisily. "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ACT LIKE YOU DON'T DESERVE HAPPINESS, SANS?! I DON'T UNDERSTAND AT ALL!"

"Papyrus," Sans began, but he wasn't sure how to proceed, completely thrown off-balance for once when it came to his brother. He hadn't been expecting this at all. What was with people surprising him left and right these days?

He waited until the hoses that were Papyrus' eye sockets dried up, the tall skeleton sniffling loudly, using his signed Mettaton t-shirt to mop up his face. He glared at Sans again.

"Don't you _dare_ say that you're giving up!" He asserted, grabbing the collar of Sans' turtleneck and pulling him in so that they were almost nasal cavity to nasal cavity. "Princess deserves someone that will fight for her! Haven't you been paying attention to our anime marathons?! The hero always gets the girl because he fights for her! If she found out you were quitting, just like that, she would be MOST upset with you, Brother!"

"But," Sans protested, though Papyrus' sudden anger still left him reeling, "you like her, too, Papyrus—"

"So what?!" Papyrus demanded, and Sans gaped at him in shock. "If I weren't your brother, would you care if I happened to have feelings for Princess as well?"

What was he even talking about anymore? Sans had no clue. "But you _are_ my brother, Pap—"

"EXACTLY!" Papyrus shouted, dropping Sans' collar so the short skeleton stumbled onto his tail bone. Sans stared up at Papyrus as the tall skeleton leapt to his feet, striking a pose. "And as your brother, who is very cool, I, the GREAT Papyrus, want you to be happy with whomever you so choose! Even if…" Papyrus blushed pink, rubbing the back of his skull. "Even if I happen to admire her bone structure a little more than is appropriate."

Sans could only stare up at him. His brother's nonsense had officially maxed out today.

"I can't do that," he said, pushing himself onto his feet. His hands clenched into fists, but he stuffed them into his pockets, hiding them from view. "I can't be with her, Papyrus. Not if it'll hurt you. I may…love her…but I loved you first. Besides, she probably prefers you anyway. How could I compare to you? And I can't just say, 'Let me have her' to you…"

"Why not?"

Sans hadn't realized he'd looked away from Papyrus until his head was snapping back up, staring at his brother in astonishment. Papyrus, however, was just smiling, that usual happy-go-lucky smile he always wore firmly in place. There wasn't a trace of sadness, resentment, or doubt to it. It was just honest, and it was just Papyrus. He was being sincere.

"Why not just ask, Sans?" Papyrus prompted when Sans said nothing. He was beyond words at this point. This conversation hadn't gone anywhere he expected it to go, and he was thoroughly mystified. Was the universe playing a prank on him today?

"Pap—"

"Go on! Ask me!" Papyrus urged him, striking another pose. "And I, the GREAT Papyrus, shall grant your wish! But only if I can tell you are sincere in your wish!"

He was serious. He was completely serious. Sans didn't know how to react. He felt his knees start to shake, and was afraid his legs might give way. And Papyrus was just staring down at him, expectant, even a little excited…

Sans grinned a small grin. "Do I…have to get on my knees and beg?"

"Hmm," Papyrus hummed, considering this. "Standing is fine!" He ultimately decided.

Sans laughed, though really, he wanted to cry. He really had the coolest brother ever.

"…Great Papyrus. Please, though it's unspeakably selfish…grant my wish. Let me have Aeris."

"Very well! I, the GREAT Papyrus, shall grant your wish!" Papyrus made a show of waving his arms about and mumbling mumbo jumbo under his breath. Finally, with double snaps, he grinned. "Done!"

He patted Sans' shoulder, his grin softening. "All yours, Brother. Now, was that so hard?"

It was one of the hardest things Sans had ever had to do. Unable to say anything, he merely moved forward, hugging Papyrus. And, despite his silence, something about the way his brother patted his back told Sans that Papyrus understood.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Intimate

It took three days for Aeris to fully recover from her fever.

She stayed at Toriel's for the time being, the goat lady taking time off work to nurse her back to health. Sans could tell Aeris felt bad about this, but any protests she made where thoroughly ignored by Toriel, who always insisted that Aeris should focus on getting better rather than "silly things like that".

Sans visited as often as he thought was acceptable, but often, he found that he had to get in line. Not only did it seem like Alphys and Undyne were constantly there, hogging most of Aeris' time, but someone must have tipped off the monsters at Grillby's II, who had become more attached to Aeris than Sans thought. Greater Dog and Lesser Dog often napped with Aeris, keeping her warm through her shivers. Dogami and Dogressa brought her bones, which Papyrus always had to show up to retrieve, albeit reluctantly. Even Grillbz showed up once or twice, though he kept a careful distance from Aeris, as if afraid he would singe her without even trying.

Seeing all these visitors made Sans wonder how many of them would show up for Aeris' funeral.

When Aeris' fever finally subsided, Alphys and Undyne threw a big party to celebrate the occasion at Alphys' lab. The party turned out to be an excuse to catch Aeris up on Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, but everyone else showed up anyway, laughing and joking around and being shushed by Alphys when a really good part of the episode was coming up.

"You actually like this?" Sans wanted to check, staring at the cat-eared girl on the screen with mild distaste. Aeris nudged him in the ribs.

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it," she said with a wink.

"Too late. Hmm…but if I try it…does that mean I can knock it twice?"

"Sans, if you're leading up to a knock-knock joke, I swear to god—"

"You're a- _door_ -able when you're angry, Princess."

"Sans!"

"Aeris!" Alphys cut in, looking put out, "you're not even watching!"

"Pay attention, punk!" Undyne asserted, grinding her knuckles into her palm. "Alphys went through the trouble of recording it, so watch it!"

"Alphys _always_ records it," Sans dared to point out, only to have Aeris slap a hand over his teeth.

"Sorry, Alphys," she apologized, looking chagrined. "The bonehead distracted me, that's all."

"What did I do?" Papyrus wanted to know, looking up from where he sat by Alphys in surprise. Aeris hid a growing grin behind a hand.

"I meant the other bonehead, Papyrus, sorry."

For some reason, both Papyrus and Alphys gave Sans amused looks, and then giggled to each other behind their hands. Sans stared at them, getting a bad feeling. What was that about…?

After the episode, everyone was getting ready to leave. Aeris had just wrapped her scarf around her neck and was reaching for her coat when Undyne snatched it up.

"Not so fast, punk!" She growled, tossing Aeris' coat behind her and ignoring Aeris' surprised look. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Huh?" Aeris asked, looking nonplussed.

"THE PIANO LESSON!" Undyne insisted, pointing an accusing finger at the piano that sat in the corner of the living room. "Because you were sick, we had to skip it!"

Aeris' eyes rounded in understanding. "Oh! Um…rain check?" She requested, glancing at Sans for some reason. But Undyne grabbed her by the arm and proceeded to drag her over to the piano.

"Not a chance, punk! You wriggled out of it last time, but not today! You're not sick anymore, so no excuses!"

"I'm always sick," Sans heard Aeris grumble, but she nonetheless settled herself on the piano bench with a martyred expression. As Undyne sat beside her, Aeris glanced around at Asgore, Toriel, Frisk, Papyrus, and Sans, who had all paused in their intent to leave. "…Um. I know why Alphys is staying, but you guys don't have to watch…"

In response, everyone else resumed their seats, turned towards the piano now. Grinning, Sans followed suit. A piano lesson, eh? He knew Undyne knew a couple songs, but he had no idea she was teaching Aeris. This ought to be good.

Aeris sighed, frowning at Sans in particular, before she focused on the piano. "All right, fine. Undyne, assume position A."

"Priming position. Got it!" Undyne placed her fingers on the keys, and Sans realized that he'd gotten wrong: Aeris was the instructor, not the student. His interest in the lesson grew exponentially.

"Okay, now play the notes from last time."

"What? That's too easy!" Undyne protested, and she hit the notes in quick succession. "C'mon, Aeris! Gimme a challenge!"

"You have to learn the basics first," Aeris said with an air of patience that had been put to the test several times over in this endeavor.

"Screw the basics! I wanna learn a whole song, not just parts of it!" Undyne turned to Aeris, the familiar challenging fire beginning to flare around her. "Come on! Play a song! I dare you! I'll listen to it once, and then play it exactly how you played it!"

Aeris raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Where did this sudden confidence come from?"

Undyne grinned, her sharp teeth on full display. "I don't only practice when you're here, Aeris! I've gotten a lot better, you'll see! Go on, try me!"

Aeris looked like she was trying hard to be annoyed, but a smile slipped through. Sans grinned at the sight of it.

"All right, fine. But if you can't play the song _exactly_ , it's back to the basics, no whining. Deal?" She asked, holding out a hand for a handshake. Undyne gripped Aeris' hand, and Sans worried for a moment that her strong grip would crush Aeris' fingers. But either the fish lady was holding back, or Aeris was a lot tougher than she looked, because when Undyne let go, Aeris' fingers appeared to be fine.

"Deal!" Undyne agreed, sliding off the bench to stand behind Aeris. "Go on, show me how it's done!"

Sans saw Aeris roll her eyes before sliding to the middle of the bench. Her fingers poised over the keys in what she'd called "position A", and she closed her eyes, breathing slowly. To the naked eye, nothing happened for a moment, but to Sans' eye sockets, a change came over Aeris. She was suddenly sitting straighter, her expression solemn. Her aura changed completely, as if she was performing a live concert in front of millions of people instead of just her friends. Her fingers struck a beginning chord, and she began to play.

Aeris played nothing like Undyne. Whereas Undyne always pounded away on the keys a little harder than was necessary, she always grinned like she was having a good time, playing with the melodies she created, sounding out what worked best. She was an explorer, searching her way through the music, discovering what pleased her to hear.

Aeris played like the piano was a long-time lover. Her fingers stroked the keys, tapping lightly in some places, pressing down a little harder in others, and the piano responded to her touch perfectly, singing the high notes and warbling the low ones. And the whole time, Aeris kept her eyes closed, as if she knew by memory exactly how the piano liked to be played, and was focusing on evoking the sweetest sounds she could rather than on the actions she performed to cause them. It was surprisingly intimate, and Sans felt himself blush, as if he was intruding on a very private moment. It was absolutely ridiculous for him to start envying a _piano_ , of all things…

The song ended too soon, on a low note that carried throughout the room, sounding almost mournful at the loss of Aeris' touch. She breathed deeply, and Sans noticed a kind of peace had taken over her when she opened her eyes. She must really love to play.

He was abruptly angry with himself for not knowing about this love of hers right away.

Their friends began to applaud Aeris. Sans glanced over, noting with some surprise that nearly all of them were near tears, as if they, too, were sad to hear the song end. Aeris blushed, an embarrassed smile spreading across her face.

"Thanks," she said somewhat awkwardly before turning to Undyne. "Well? Did you get all that?"

"Psh. You kidding? I can't play like that yet!" Undyne said with a cheeky grin. "I just wanted you to play for everyone!"

Aeris' jaw dropped, looking horrified. Sans snickered into his hoodie.

"Undyne!" She protested, her pink cheeks evolving into red ones. Undyne cackled.

"What?! You got applause, didn't you? I don't know why you're so weird about your piano playing, anyway! It's really good!"

"It—it really is," Asgore agreed with a sniffle. "You should play professionally."

"It's a tragedy to keep such lovely music secret," Toriel insisted.

"It should be the sound track of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 3!" Alphys demanded.

"I knew music could make you happy," Papyrus said, wiping his face with his scarf, "but I didn't know it could make you sad, too!"

" _You're awesome, Aeris,_ " Frisk chimed in with a smile.

The praise seemed to be a bit too much for Aeris. Her cheeks burning, she got to her feet.

"I'm going now," she mumbled before she fled the lab, snatching her coat up on the way out.

"Oh dear," Toriel sighed, moving forward. "Maybe I should—"

"I've got it," Sans volunteered, hopping up and heading for the door.

"Oh. Of course," he heard Toriel say. Something about the tone of her voice made him pause and turn around.

Everyone was looking at him funny, as if they knew something he didn't. Papyrus and Alphys were giggling to each other again, Undyne was grinning at him, and Toriel and Asgore were covering their mouths with their hands, not quite able to conceal their smiles. The only one that seemed out of the loop was Frisk, who merely shrugged when Sans looked their way. Sans almost asked what they were all smiling at…but then he thought better of it and left, feeling a telling blush creeping through his skull.

That was a can of worms he was comfortable leaving alone.

* * *

Sans found Aeris exactly where he thought he would—out on the outcropping of the cliff. She sat with her back to him, her arms folded as she stared up at the sky. Grinning to himself, Sans sat beside her.

"So. You neglected to tell us you were Mozart reincarnated," he opened with, peering at Aeris from the corner of his eye sockets. Aeris groaned, pressing her hands to her face the way she did when she was embarrassed about something.

"I am _not_ that good," she protested, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Sans.

"As cute as this modesty look is on ya, Princess, I have to wonder: why're you trying so hard to deny your talent? You must've worked hard to get as good as you are now, right? Isn't it kind of a disservice to yourself to…down _play_ it?"

Aeris groaned again, this time at the pun. Sans snickered before he sobered a little.

"Seriously. You're good, Princess. Real good. I'm just sorry I didn't know until now. I could've scraped some gold together and gotten you a piano to play at our house, too."

Aeris glanced over at him, still clutching her cheeks. "You wouldn't have. Monster gold or not, pianos are super expensive."

"Hearing you play is priceless, Princess."

Aeris flushed bright red and looked away from Sans. God, she was adorable. Sans waited until the blush faded from her cheeks a little before he spoke again.

"How long've you been playing?" He asked curiously, turning his gaze to the stars. It was a moment before Aeris answered.

"Since I was eleven. …That was eight years ago. Wow," she huffed, and Sans looked over to see her eyes widening in surprise, "time flies."

Eleven plus eight…Aeris was nineteen years old. Still so young, and yet, her life was almost over. What a tragedy.

Alexei's face flashed through Sans' mind, and he grit his teeth. Well…there were worse things, weren't there…?

"Why do you look like that?"

Sans was brought back out of his thoughts by the familiar question.

"Déjà vu," he said to himself before looked over, amused to find that Aeris was looking at him the exact same way as she did back then, legs crossed, chin cradled in her hand, eyes speculative. Funny how so much had changed since then.

"Do I still look like the sky is falling?" He dared to ask with a brave attempt at a grin. He watched as Aeris took in his expression, her lips pursing, brow furrowed.

"…No," she admitted, much to Sans' surprise. She leaned forward, eyes intense once again. "You look like you're standing in the aftermath, broken stars around you, watching the world burn. And there's nothing you can do about it."

A shiver passed through Sans. He had to look away from her, afraid that those eyes that missed nothing would see through him a little too well this time around. He knew that Aeris suspected that he felt for her a little more than he should, but if she ever caught wind of just how deeply he had fallen…

"How do you do that?" He asked in an attempt to distract himself. "Don't other people find that creepy?"

Aeris laughed softly beside him. "I suppose," she admitted. Sans looked back at her to find her gaze faraway, out to sea. She glanced over to him when she felt him staring, a small smile curing her lips. "Do _you_ find it creepy?"

"Not so much creepy as unsettling," Sans admitted. Aeris laughed.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No," Sans said. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, watching his twiddling thumbs so he had an excuse not to look at Aeris. "It's not creepy to have your own observation skills turned around on you. It's unsettling."

"Oh, so I stole your thunder, huh?" Aeris surmised, giggling again. Sans grinned a little.

"You ninja'd it away from me the moment I stopped watching," he agreed. "Thor'd be pissed with you if it were him."

Aeris stuck her tongue out at him, reminding Sans of Frisk.

"It's also unsettling," he continued, dropping his eyes back to his thumbs, "when your own observation skills prove useless against someone who apparently sees as much as you do, if not more."

Aeris paused at this. Sans didn't look up at her.

"Are you saying that I'm a mystery to you?" Aeris asked, sounding amused for some reason or another. Sans frowned to himself.

"Not exactly. Watching you for as long as I have, I know _some_ things about you. You tug at your hair when you're nervous, you bite your lip when you're unsure…things like that."

He looked up at her now, the familiar frustration returning to him. "But the big things, like your love for the piano…I never find that stuff out on my own. I always find out through someone else."

"And that frustrates you," Aeris concluded. Sans sighed.

"You're doing it again," he said, looking away, "stealing my thunder. I'm going to sue, one of these days. Just so you know."

Aeris laughed softly at that. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Sans made himself say, though it wasn't, "I guess you can't help it. I just…I don't know. I guess I'm just not used to feeling so…"

"…Vulnerable?" Aeris supplied when he paused. He looked up at her again; something about his expression made her bite her lip. "Sorry," she apologized again, looking embarrassed as she looked away. "It's probably annoying when I don't let you finish your sentence, huh? What were you—"

Aeris paused. Sans suspected it was because he took her hand. He stared moodily down at it, his fingers laced with hers so that her palm faced up, towards him. He had seen something, a couple years ago, when he was up late watching television, about human fortune-telling. Apparently, the lines in a person's hand could be used to tell vague things, like how long they were going to live, when they were going to get married, how many kids they'd have, junk like that. Sans thought it was a load of crap and had changed the channel. Now, staring down at Aeris' palm, he had to wonder if the shortest line there was her life line. He couldn't remember which one it was supposed to be, but by process of elimination…

Sans sighed, pressing his face into Aeris' palm. He heard her breath catch.

"Seriously," he grumbled, looking back up at her and watching red bloom in her cheeks, "stop seeing right through me. I'm not a ghost, you know."

Aeris apparently had nothing to say to that. She opened her mouth a couple times, but no words seemed to occur to her for a minute.

"Sans," she began softly, but went quiet again when Sans pressed a kiss to her palm. Or it would've been a kiss, if he had lips. As it were, it was just his teeth grazing against her skin. If there was ever a time where Sans yearned for flesh of his own, it was nothing compared to how he felt now.

Aeris seemed to understand, however. He watched as she leaned forward, her face bright red, but a slow burn in her eyes. She kissed his forehead tenderly, and Sans closed his eye sockets, gritting his teeth against the words of devotion that threatened to spill from him at such a simple action.

She kissed the spot between his eye sockets next, repeating her pattern from the other night.

He couldn't do this, Sans suddenly realized. It felt dishonest, to accept such affection from the sister of his murder victim, like betrayal—

The right cheekbone next.

It was terrible. He was terrible. This couldn't continue.

Left cheekbone…

He was going to hell. Aeris deserved better than him. She had to stop. Stop…

And suddenly, he could feel her lips an inch from his teeth, her breath caressing his face—

Sans reached up, his free hand pressed against Aeris' lips. He opened his eye sockets in time to see Aeris blink, surprised. She leaned back awkwardly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, looking highly embarrassed. Biting her lip, she tried to pull her hand away, but Sans kept hold of it. "I thought—"

"Aeris," Sans interrupted her, waiting until she looked back at him before he continued heavily, "I've done something terrible."

This made Aeris blink in surprise.

"…What do you mean?" She asked, beginning to frown. Sans sighed and finally dropped her hand, getting to his feet.

'Later' had officially arrived.

"Let's talk somewhere else," he suggested, turning his back on her. He listened as Aeris pushed herself to her feet, coughing a little. She had hardly coughed at all today, he realized.

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow me," Sans requested, a trace of his usual grin on his face as he half-turned towards her. "I know a shortcut."

* * *

 **A/N : Short chapter today, my bad. I'll make it up to you tomorrow. (No, seriously, next chapter's a doozy.)**

 **Stay tuned!**

 **~Reyna**


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Confessions

**A/N : Eh, what the hell. Two chapters today, because I feel bad about the short one, and because I love you guys. ;D Enjoy!**

* * *

The house was quiet when Sans and Aeris arrived. Either Papyrus was out, or he'd already gone to bed. Sans wondered, for a moment, if the tall skeleton was trying to give him privacy with Aeris. The thought made guilt and affection for his brother swell within Sans.

"Come on," he said to Aeris as he climbed the steps up to the second floor. Because he was listening, he could tell it was a moment before Aeris followed.

His room was the same as ever: a mess. Not bothering to turn on the light, Sans moved around the trash tornado, shedding his hoodie and tossing it in the direction of the floor somewhere. As he stood in the middle of the room, brooding over how this just might be the setting for his murder, he sensed eyes on him.

"…Coming in?" He asked, turning and finding Aeris hesitating at the doorway. She bit her lip, reaching up to curl a strand of thick hair around her fingers.

"Um," she hedged. Despite the situation, it made Sans grin to see how nervous she appeared.

"What's the matter, Princess?" He couldn't help but tease her, "you were all gung-ho when you barged in here the other night."

Aeris blushed, frowning at him. "You know why that was," she reminded him, causing his grin to lessen. "I didn't think it was a good idea for you to be alone. This, though…it feels…"

She struggled for a moment for a word, glancing away from Sans. "…Intentional," she eventually settled for.

Hmm. Well, Sans supposed he could see where she was coming from with that. If he were on the outside looking in, this would look like a very different situation.

What he wouldn't give for that very different situation…

"Come on in, Princess," he urged, settling down on the edge of his bed and waving her in with a hand. "I won't bite."

Aeris looked at him, as if she expected him to make a joke. He didn't. They stared at each other. Finally, her face red, Aeris stepped inside and turned to shut the door.

The click of the lock turning was loud in the darkness.

"I didn't ask you to do that," Sans said after a moment, sweating for a reason he didn't fully understand. The glow from his sleeping computer was the only light in the room, and he used it to judge Aeris' expression as she turned back to him. Unfortunately, her face was unreadable.

"I don't want to be interrupted," she said as she stepped further into the room, finding her way to the bed with apparent ease. She sank down next to Sans, and he could practically feel the tension rolling off of her. "You sounded serious when you said we have to talk."

She had a point—it wouldn't do for Papyrus to come bounding in here for one reason or another tonight. It would be even worse for his brother to be the one to discover the dust pile…if this conversation ended badly.

Sans decided Aeris was right. Best have the door locked, and only have it opened by a battering ram, if need be.

The silence grew thick as they sat there in the near darkness. The seconds ticked by.

Finally, Sans cleared his throat.

"I, uh…" he paused. "…I don't know where to start, actually."

"The beginning?" Aeris suggested.

This made Sans snort. "There're multiple beginnings. Which one're you talking about?"

He felt Aeris frown at him in the near darkness. She seemed to struggle with his odd comment before she gave up with a huff.

"You're so weird, sometimes." She folded her arms, staring at the floor. "You said the other night that you needed to talk to me, too. Tonight, you confess that you've 'done something terrible'. What could you have possibly done between then and now that was so awful?"

"I did it a long time ago," Sans corrected her assumption, looking down at his lap. "It wasn't until recently that I realized it was to you."

"What are you talking about?"

' _Now who's frustrated?_ ' Sans wanted to joke, but he refrained. Still, it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one who became irritated when he didn't get something about Aeris right away.

"Pap's told you about our story, right? About how we all escaped from the Underground?"

"Yes?" Aeris answered, and he could tell by her frown that she wasn't sure where he was going with this. "But, uh, the bit with the barrier…I never really understood that. He just claimed he passed out, and then, when he woke up, the barrier was down."

"That's because he doesn't know what happened, exactly," Sans said. "Even I didn't know, until Frisk told me. See, there was this flower…"

And he told Aeris the tragic truth about Flowey. Aeris stared at him afterwards, looking shocked.

"You mean…that demonic weed in Asgore's garden…that's his _son?_ "

"Was," Sans corrected heavily. "Was his son. It's no longer him. Even Asgore admits it."

It grew quiet in the room. It wasn't until Aeris sniffled that Sans realized she was crying.

"Aeris?"

"I…I didn't know…" she whispered, dabbing at her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. "And I said such mean things to him—"

"Like I said, the flower's no longer him," Sans asserted, hating that Aeris was crying over _Flowey_ , of all things. "The weed is soulless. You did nothing wrong by telling it off."

"Then why do I still feel bad?" She asked, stifling a sob. Sans didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand it when Aeris cried, especially because he had no idea how to comfort her. No soothing words came to his mind, and he didn't know if patting her on the back would help. Seriously, he was shit at this. She was a lot better at it than he was.

When Aeris' tears finally subsided, Sans cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Anyway, with the six human souls, Asriel managed to break the barrier, freeing us once and for all. The kid was a hero…in the end."

It was quiet again. Sans waited, both anxious and hopeful, almost praying that she wouldn't pick up on what he feared she would—

"…Sans? The human souls…how did you all get them…?"

Sans went cold. Of course. Of course she would pick up on it. It was naïve to think or hope otherwise.

The skeleton looked up at Aeris. She was facing forward, her eyes glittering in the dark with what looked like new tears. He knew she knew he was watching her, and he patiently waited, waited for her to turn and look at him…

Eventually, she did. And he could tell by the look in her eyes that, though she was hoping he would prove her wrong, she already knew the answer. And it was devastating.

"…The hard way, Princess," he said anyway. As the words left his mouth, he could see how heavily they weighed on Aeris; her eyes closed and her head bowed. She stayed like that for a long time. Sans wondered what she was thinking…and then decided that he probably didn't want to know. The silence between them stretched, separating them, as if they were on opposite ends of the earth instead of right next to each other. That's what it felt like to Sans, anyway.

"How?"

The question surprised Sans. He looked over, but Aeris still had her head bowed, not looking at him. He scratched his skull.

"You want the gory details?" He asked, certain that was not the case. Sure enough, Aeris shook her head fiercely, her dark hair whipping her face.

"I mean…" she swallowed, taking a shaky breath. "I thought the barrier kept all the monsters underground. How did you get human souls if—"

"The barrier kept us in," Sans interrupted, wondering if his bitterness was transferring to his voice at all, "but it didn't keep other things out."

He watched as Aeris processed this. Her eyes opened, staring at the floor.

"…You waited until humans wandered into the Underground." Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion. Sans was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign. "…And then you killed them."

Sans closed his eye sockets, as if he could hide from the truth that way. "Yes."

He felt Aeris turn to him. He opened his eye sockets, meeting her gaze, trying not to shrink under the accusation in her eyes. He deserved it.

"…Did you kill them?" Aeris' voice was quiet. Sans wondered if she really wanted this question answered, if she was speaking so softly, like maybe he wouldn't hear her. "You, personally."

Sans stared back at her, his expression grim. She deserved the truth. She was owed it…

"A few," he confessed.

"How many?" Aeris demanded, her voice growing stronger.

Sans closed his eye sockets again. Faces flashed through his mind, all blurred, save for the last one, the boy with the ice blue eyes…

"Five." He didn't bother mentioning who killed the first one. He doubted it would matter to Aeris much. And he was sure she didn't want to discover exactly how many of her friends were killers.

"Did you try to kill Frisk?"

Sans almost smiled at that. Well, wasn't that the million dollar question?

"No." He paused. "Not this time. I made a promise not to…and I wasn't forced to break it."

He opened his eye sockets to find Aeris frowning at him.

"'This time'?" She quoted. "What do you mean, 'this time'?"

Oops.

Sans regarded her warily. "That's another story entirely, Princess."

"Sans—" she began, but he raised a bony hand, making her pause.

"If you honestly want to hear it after everything I have to tell you, then I'll tell you. But I'm not done, Aeris. This is the tip of the ice berg."

Aeris grew impossibly paler under his gaze. "There's more?"

"Yeah. And it has to do with your brother."

Aeris' eyes widened. "How do you know about Alex?"

The nickname managed to hurt Sans. It personalized the boy, made him more, well, to turn a phrase, human. And it made Sans all the more guilty for murdering him.

"I heard your parents talking about him," he admitted, and Aeris' mouth popped open.

"When did you—"

"Aeris," Sans said, nearly growling her name. Aeris paused, biting her lip. "Let me finish, or I swear, I'll never be able to get this out. And you have to know. You _have_ to."

Aeris searched his face. Whatever expression he was making, desperate as he was, seemed to convince her. She waited, giving only a silent nod as his go-ahead.

Sans took a shaky breath. Now or never. He chose now.

"…The last human that wandered into the Underground before Frisk was a kid, just like them, maybe younger. He was clutching this pink glove as he came out of the ruins, crying and bleeding. Looked like some monsters had roughed him up good. But they didn't finish the job. So, when he neared my station…I took care of him myself."

Sans slowly looked up at Aeris. He forced the words that would make her hate him forever out of his mouth:

"It was your brother, Aeris. I killed him."

Aeris' eyes widened. Sans made himself look into her eyes, despite his sweating, and despite his shaking. She had to know. Even if it killed him to tell her, she deserved to know how her brother died. It was only right.

Sans watched as Aeris slowly began to frown. He waited for the explosion that would tear him to shreds, that would end the world as he knew it.

But it refused.

"…Sans," Aeris began, and Sans was thrown off by her soft tone, "I think you're confused."

"I'm not." Sans suspected denial would come into play here. He turned and reached for his nightstand, picking up the picture Dr. Crown had dropped and handing it to Aeris. "I knew, as soon as I saw this photo. It was the same kid."

"Sans," Aeris said again, when she'd gotten over the shock of seeing the photo, "I don't know where you got this, but—"

"Your mother dropped it," Sans said, though he didn't understand how Aeris could be so calm right now. Didn't she want to scream and yell at him? Didn't she want to hit him, at least, or anything?

Didn't she hate him as much as he hated himself for this?

"Sans," Aeris tried again, but Sans couldn't take the tension anymore.

"Don't try and make me feel better about this!" He burst out, rattling as his whole body trembled, his sins raking at his spine like claws. "I know I did it! I didn't even care! The only thought I had was that we just needed one more soul! I watched as the blood pooled around him, soaking everything—"

"SANS!" Aeris finally slapped him, both cheeks this time, but she kept her hands there, holding his skull in place. " _Listen to me!_ "

Sans stared at her in shock. Aeris' face was the whitest he'd ever seen it, but her eyes were their normal, glittering silver, staring fiercely at him. His shaking seemed to lessen a little, as if nothing but those eyes that saw everything could ground him.

"Sans," Aeris spoke slowly and deliberately, her eyes willing Sans to believe every word she was about to speak to him, "my brother was hit by a car."

The skeleton stared at her.

No. That couldn't be right. Why was she lying? To make him feel better?

He opened his mouth to contradict her, but Aeris put a hand under his jaw, forcing it shut.

"Alex died in a car accident," she asserted, "I saw it happen. He got hit right in front of me."

Aeris was many things, but a liar was not one of them. Sans knew this. But…in order for what she was saying to be true…no. It couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be.

…Could it?

"…Then…" Sans began shakily, hardly daring to believe it, "the kid I killed—"

"Was not Alex," Aeris finished. Steel glinted in her eyes for a moment. "It must've been someone else's brother."

Sans didn't know how to feel. On the one hand, his relief was acute, painful, even. His guilt turned out to be unfounded—he hadn't murdered the brother of the girl he'd fallen in love with.

However, he had murdered members of the girl's species. And, judging by the look in her eyes, she was going to hold him accountable for every soul he stole.

Sans closed his eye sockets, relishing Aeris' touch for as long as she graced him with it. He was betting it wouldn't be long. "…I'm sorry, Aeris."

Aeris let go of his face. He dared to peek at her. Her arms were folded, and she looked down her nose at him, eyes hard. His judge and jury. And possible executioner.

"For what? Specifically," she demanded to know, and Sans almost laughed, wondering if she wanted a bullet-pointed list.

"For hurting you," he said. Aeris eyed him, clearly waiting for more. So Sans added, "and for confessing that I killed your brother, when I apparently didn't."

"And?" Aeris prompted. Sans stared at her.

"…And for the build-up to nothing…?" He added uncertainly. Seriously, what more did she want from him?

Aeris sighed, pushing her hair back from her face. "Seriously, Sans?"

"I'm a bit at a loss here, Princess," Sans readily admitted with a shrug, "what else am I supposed to be apologizing for…?"

Aeris huffed, her frown growing. There was a look in her eyes that took Sans a moment to figure out: it was disappointment. For some reason or another, she was losing faith in him.

"Don't you…I mean…" she sighed, scratching her head, lips twisting as she frowned at Sans. "You—you _killed_ people, Sans. Don't you feel bad about that…?"

Sans gave the question some thought. He thought back to the humans that had fallen down into the Underground, some of them young, some of them older, all foreign, all universally hated. He thought of their faces when he met them, some of them wide-eyed, innocent, terrified. Some of them were hardened, eyes lacking compassion, hands coated in monster dust. He thought of the lives of the monsters that had ended upon meeting some of those humans. He thought of how long peace was kept in the Underground because of their deaths.

One by one, Sans had judged those humans when they had approached his sentry station. And one by one, they had all met the same fate by his hands: death. It hadn't mattered who was innocent. It hadn't mattered who was guilty. They all shared the same sentence.

And Sans thought of his brother, of the promise he'd made to their father just before his death. His hands clenched closed, knowing his answer, and knowing Aeris would hate it…and perhaps, by extension, him.

"No."

Aeris closed her eyes. Sans watched her as she breathed deeply, in and out, as if she were trying to calm herself. It was silent for a long moment.

"Why not?"

The question surprised Sans. He didn't think Aeris would be interested in the whys. What did she need to know "why" for?

As if she could sense the question in his mind, Aeris' brow puckered, her eyes still closed. "Why not, Sans? How can you sit there and tell me that you don't care that people are dead because of you?"

"Will my reason help you make peace with it?"

Aeris opened her eyes and stared at him. Sans saw, with some surprise, that he'd managed to see through _her_ for once. Her eyes were wide and wild, desperate, and she stared at him the way he'd seen monsters staring at him just before being cut down by the demonic child that sometimes plagued several timelines. She looked at him like he could give her salvation.

"…Maybe," she answered quietly, "if your reason is good enough."

That made Sans wonder suddenly if his reason was even good enough to him.

As he looked away, debating with himself, Aeris seemed to get edgy. She reached for his hands, hers closing tightly around his, making his phalanges clink together.

"Sans?" She asked, and he looked up to find her shaking a little, her eyes wide as she stared at him. "Please," she begged, her voice an octave higher than usual.

Sans' eye sockets widened as he realized what was happening: Aeris was scared.

She was becoming frightened of him.

It felt like something inside him was tearing in half. Gritting his teeth, Sans gripped Aeris' hands as well, staring unflinchingly into her wide eyes. This was the last thing he'd wanted to happen. Never should Aeris feel like she had to fear him. Never.

"…I don't feel bad," he admitted, his voice quiet, but full of conviction, "because every ounce of blood on my hands meant that Papyrus' hands stayed clean. He was obsessed with capturing a human so he could join the Royal Guard, but he didn't know what happened to them after they were sent to the capital. I knew that if he found out, it would kill him, to know he had a hand in that. So, to save him from such terrible guilt…I became a murderer."

Aeris closed her eyes, but the tension in her body seemed to leave with one large exhalation of breath. She kept his hands, her head bowed, as if she was praying with him.

Sans ran his thumbs over the back of her hands, willing her to calm down. "Does that help?" He couldn't help but ask, unsure, since Aeris still had her eyes closed.

She took another deep breath and sat up straight, opening her eyes. They were mournful.

"…A little," she admitted. Sans almost smiled at the doubt he still saw on her face.

"What is it?" He asked, needing to know. Aeris glanced away, but Sans' hands released hers, trailing up to her forearms. Red heated her cheeks, and she caught the tiniest of breaths. It surprised Sans just how much he enjoyed that reaction from her when he touched her.

"Nothing," she admitted, sounding a little breathless. "It's just…"

"Just?" Sans prompted when she trailed off again, his hands passing her elbows, sliding up to her biceps. Aeris' blush deepened.

"Can you not?" She requested, not quite meeting his eyes. "I can't, uh…think, when you're…"

Sans grinned. "Is it spooky, having a skeleton touching you?"

"'Spooky' isn't the word," she mumbled under her breath, and Sans' grin widened. He was tempted to see just how flustered she'd get the more he touched her…but she wouldn't finish her train of thought if he persisted. So he dropped his hands, folding them in his lap. He could keep them to himself, behave for a few minutes. If he tried.

"You were saying?" He pressed again in between Aeris' deep breaths, her hands over her cheeks. She frowned, as if she resented him for rushing her.

"It's just…I guess I'm glad. That I met you up here." Aeris looked up at him, her eyes dulling, her face becoming the mask of a corpse. "If I had made the mistake of falling down there while the barrier was still in place…I don't think I would've survived."

Sans stared at her, his good mood vanishing instantly. She couldn't seriously believe…?

"I wouldn't have killed you," he protested, a faint note of hurt in his voice, that she would even think that of him. Aeris stared back at him, her expression unchanging.

"Wouldn't you have?" She questioned, her voice devoid of emotion. "If you never knew me—if you had never made the promise to protect Frisk—and you found me stumbling around in the Underground, lost, alone, afraid…wouldn't it have been the perfect opportunity for you? To cull the seventh and final soul you needed?"

Sans said nothing.

He hated that Aeris had a point. Back then, he had no compassion for humans. The way he saw it, if they were stupid enough to fall down into monster domain, they deserved the punishment. They all deserved the punishment for their ancestors trapping them all in the Underground in the first place. Papyrus might've been fanatical about capturing a human, but Sans didn't care about that. He took no prisoners. Ever.

But Sans made himself think about it. If he had found Aeris—if she had somehow made her way out of the ruins, and had stumbled across his sentry station, coughing up blood, or maybe even passed out in the snow—what would he have done?

There was no way to know for sure now. But the feeling in Sans' non-existent gut was enough for him.

"I wouldn't have killed you," he stated again, certain beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Something flickered in Aeris' dead eyes. "You don't know that," she objected, though there was a strain of emotion Sans detected that made him think she wanted to believe him: hope.

He took her hands again.

"That night," he began quietly, his thumbs stroking the back of her hands again, "when I found you in the snow, I could've left you there. I almost turned around, thinking it was too troublesome to get involved…but I didn't."

He stared into her eyes, so full of doubts and questions, and willed her to believe him.

"I think I would've known back in the Underground, the way I knew that night, the way I know now: you're different."

Sans watched, a foreign feeling swelling in his chest, as Aeris' eyes came back to life, sparkling with so many emotions it was hard to count them all. Her lips twitched into a smile, though it was a rather awkward one.

"I'm still human, Sans," she reminded him, as if that was still supposed to matter to him.

"You're still different," he insisted. "I'll admit it. It's hard for me to care about humanity. But Frisk made me care about them…and so did you."

Aeris was crying. Sans watched, helplessly, as tears rolled down her cheeks for the second time that night. But, to make the problem even more complex, she was smiling, too.

Women. Who could understand them?

"What's wrong?" Sans dared to ask, reaching up to rub a couple of the tears away from Aeris' face. She laughed a little, leaning into his touch.

"Nothing. It's just…you reminded me of something my mom used to say. She used to complain about my eyes. They're the same color as hers, but she always said mine are so wide and innocent that anyone who meets me can't help but want to love me. She always said I'd end up kidnapped because of that."

Dr. Crown was right about that. But Sans kept the fact that he agreed with Aeris' mother to himself. Tonight might be a night of confessions, but it seemed bad form to confess his love to her on the same night he confessed to being a murderer, even if he hadn't ended up killing her brother like he originally thought. Besides, it technically wasn't kidnapping if your captive wasn't exactly fighting to leave, was it?

Aeris leaned forward, slipping her arms around Sans' neck. He wrapped his arms around her in response, rubbing her back the way she did for him during his breakdown the other night. It was ridiculous how…free…he felt. As free as he could ever feel, in any case. Funny how he had originally believed Aeris would be the death of him, when really, she was turning out to be his savior.

"Now," Aeris began, her voice returned to normal, except for the business-like tone she was using, "earlier, when you said 'this time'—"

Sans sighed, drawing back from her. He gave her a warning look.

"I said that was another long story. And it's getting late, Princess."

Aeris' eyes were intense as she gazed down at him. "I'm not tired."

Something about her tone made Sans shiver, but in a good way.

"You really want to waste the night away, just talking?"

"You said you'd tell me if I wanted to hear it."

"I did, didn't I…all right, Princess. I'll make you a deal: for every question I answer, you have to answer one as well."

"Any question?"

"Any question."

"Scandalous."

"Yep." Sans grinned. "Get comfy, Princess. It's gonna be a long night."


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Pillow Talk

**A/N : Happy Friday! Have some fluff~**

 **~Reyna**

* * *

"So…you're a time-traveler."

"You asked me that already, Princess."

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it, though! I made peace with the whole 'monsters exist' thing a while ago, but now you're telling me you can also travel through time? That seems a little unfair."

"It's not my fault all your magicians seem to have died out."

"So, when you time travel—"

"It's my turn to ask a question, Princess."

"But you just asked me, like, three!"

"The other two were follow-up questions. You didn't say anything about those not being allowed."

Aeris scowled up at him, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. Her head was in his lap so he could see her face better as the rest of her sprawled across his bed. His hand was in her hair, tempting fate as he played with it—he was almost certain that it would swallow his hand the minute he stopped being careful, and that he wouldn't get it back. Then he'd have to go through the trouble of getting a new hand, or making one with his magic. Either way, it sounded like a pain to someone as lazy as him.

Didn't stop him from playing with Aeris' hair, though.

"All right," she huffed when she got tired of glaring holes into his grin. "Ask me."

"Tell me what kind of sense it makes for you to like red roses, but not the color red itself."

Sans watched as Aeris wrinkled her nose.

"I like red. I just don't like it on _me._ Do I really have to explain that to you?" She asked, peering up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You've seen me covered in red on more than one occasion."

Sans remembered. The separate memories still left him cold.

"Assuming isn't the same as knowing," he explained, tugging at a tangled strand of Aeris' hair. If it hurt her, she gave no sign of it.

"You don't have to know _everything_ ," she pointed out. Sans grinned at her.

"Oh, I do. Trust me, these questions keep me awake at night."

"You need better things to do at night, then."

Sans winked down at Aeris. "Are you volunteering as tribute, Princess?"

Aeris flushed deep red and looked away.

"Next question," she mumbled. Sans snickered.

"It's your turn, Princess."

"Oh. Right." Aeris cleared her throat, her eyes returning to Sans' eye sockets. "How do you keep track of the separate timelines? Don't you get confused?"

"Aren't _you_ tired of confusing timeline questions yet?"

Aeris stared up at him, her face expectant. Sans sighed. He knew it was a mistake to tell her everything. Hours later, after explaining everything he could about the timelines, how he'd become aware of them, and everything he went through in each separate one with Frisk and not-so-much-Frisk, she was still asking him the hows and whats of time travel. Meanwhile, his questions about her seemed so insignificant in comparison. Still, at least their level of fascination with each other seemed to be the same.

"Usually, when a timeline resets, I can tell. It helps when I'm suddenly in another place than the one I started out in," he commented dryly. "The biggest telltale sign is when people I talk to act as if a conversation we've already had is brand new to them. …But sometimes…I do get confused."

"What happens then?"

"It's my turn, Princess."

"You didn't disallow follow-up questions," Aeris quoted him, pouting again. Sans grinned down at her.

"Nice try. If you don't ask the follow up questions beforehand, they don't count as add-ons to the same question. It's my turn."

Aeris sighed loudly, as if Sans was putting her out. "Fine. Go ahead."

"Tell me about Alex."

Aeris blinked. Clearly, she had not been expecting that question.

"…What about Alex?" Sans was sad to hear that her tone was wary, as if she expected this question to lead somewhere forbidden. Sans tried to make it easier for her.

"What was he like?"

This question made Aeris sigh again, though the sound was more forlorn this time around. "…I don't remember very well," she admitted, her voice quiet. "He died when I was five."

She scowled suddenly. "My illness was beginning to show up, though at the time, my parents thought it was just a temporary thing. It didn't really take over my life until I turned twelve…anyway, my dad put me on this medication that would keep me from coughing as much, but everything was…hazy. I think I hallucinated a lot, while on that medication. I kept seeing things that weren't really there. So when I saw the car speeding towards us, I thought I was imagining it."

Aeris' eyes were far away, looking through Sans, as if he weren't even there.

"I stepped out into the street. I remember Alex yelling. Suddenly, I was pushed back. There was a screeching sound…something red smashed right into Alex…and the next thing I knew, I was in the ambulance. Alex was next to me, his face turned away. No matter how hard I screamed, he wouldn't answer. They must've drugged me to put me under after that, but I knew. He was dead."

Sans shuddered, sympathizing. He knew what it was like to watch his brother die right in front of him. But while Aeris couldn't have done anything to stop it, Sans was responsible for his own brother's death, every time. He had had all the power in the world to stop it, to prevent it from happening…but he didn't.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, though for a moment, he wasn't sure who he was apologizing to.

Aeris' eyes focused back on him, smiling a bittersweet smile.

"Why are you sorry?" She questioned, reaching up to poke his forehead. "I told you, you didn't kill him." The light left her eyes unexpectedly, extinguishing all emotion from her face. "I did."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. If I hadn't been so loopy from the meds…" Aeris shut her eyes, shaking her head a little, as if to rid herself of the negative emotions. "That's why I hate them. If I hadn't been out of it…Alex might still be alive."

The room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Aeris opened her eyes, a sheepish smile in place.

"Sorry to talk for so long. It's my turn to ask a question, right?"

"Do you think Alex would've been okay with you going off your meds?" Sans asked unexpectedly, the question bursting from him. "It sounds like he threw you out of the way of the speeding car just in time. He saved your life. If he found out what you're doing—"

"Sans," Aeris spoke, reaching up to put her fingers under his jaw now, shutting it for him. "Don't."

Sans frowned down at her. He was sick of having the same fight over and over again, true, but as long as Aeris refused to see sense—

Aeris sat up unexpectedly. Sans swallowed whatever else he was about to say as she leaned in, pressing her lips to his teeth. He expected it to be awkward, even uncomfortable, when this moment eventually came. After all, for the billionth time, he didn't have lips. How was this supposed to work, exactly?

It wasn't awkward. Ho boy, it was anything _but_ awkward.

Even though Sans couldn't kiss her back, something powerful seemed to explode inside him, like those lights he'd seen with Papyrus and Frisk on the surface one summer. Frisk had called them fireworks, and admittedly, they were the most amazing thing Sans had ever seen. They had watched them until they faded away, and though Sans hadn't said anything, he had agreed with his brother's assessment in that the show was over way too soon.

This moment was like that one. Just a million times more intense.

Sans' fingers dug into Aeris' back, forgetting to be careful with her as he pulled her closer to him. She gave absolutely no sign that he was hurting her, and instead drew herself closer on her own as well, her arms sliding around his neck. Sans closed his eye sockets, and the feeling intensified, his own fireworks show exploding inside him, building into a magnificent crescendo—

Aeris pulled away. Sans let out a breath he had no idea he'd been holding, the sound uneven, his head swimming. When he opened his eye sockets, it was to find Aeris blushing, a mischievous little grin on her lips.

"Did you have any more questions for me?" She asked lightly, as if they were discussing the weather.

' _To hell with it,_ ' Sans thought, burying his hands in her hair.

"Not right now," he replied, before bringing her lips to his teeth again.

* * *

"W.D. Gaster."

Sans opened his eye sockets. He had thought Aeris had fallen asleep, she had been quiet for so long. But apparently, she still had more questions to ask.

The kissing was a nice distraction, though.

He lifted his skull, glancing down at her. She had her arms folded over his rib cage, pillowing her head. Her eyes were closed, and Sans almost thought he had imagined her voice, but then she opened them, her silver gaze glittering in the darkness.

"What about him?"

"Who was he to you?"

"My mentor."

"And?"

Sans gave her a grudging grin. "You ask that like you already know."

"I know that there's more that you're not telling me," she corrected, propping her head up on an elbow. "Who was he? Really."

Sans personally believed it was a curse to speak of the dead. But, to be fair, he had questioned Aeris about Alexei…

Sans let his skull fall back on his arm. His free hand drummed idly on Aeris' back, and he couldn't help but grin at the shiver he felt go through her spine. So sensitive.

"…He was my father," Sans admitted after a moment. He waited for Aeris to absorb that, his gaze on the dark ceiling.

"…I'm sorry." Her voice was soft, threatening tears again. Sans ran his hand up and down her back. "It must've been terrible to watch him die."

Sans closed his eye sockets. "It's one of my worst memories," he confessed.

He felt Aeris move. When he opened his eye sockets again, she was there, hovering over him. They stared at each other for a while, him taking in the little changes in her face, wondering what she was pondering now, which bit of him she was seeing with those eyes now.

Finally, Aeris gave him a small smile.

"Can you show me that trick again?" She requested.

Sans smirked at her. "Which one?"

"That one." She tapped at his teeth with a finger.

"Oh." Sans took a deep breath, focusing his magic. He felt the light in his left eye socket flare, sparking in response to his summons. Slowly, he opened his mouth, letting a blue, glowing tongue slide through his teeth. The glow from it cast a blue tint to Aeris' face, her eyes reflecting blue as she stared, apparently fascinated.

"How does it work?"

Sans grinned, the tongue retreating back into his mouth.

"Magic," he said. Aeris frowned at him.

"That's your answer for everything tonight."

"Because it's true."

"I feel like you just don't want to explain."

"Oh ye of little faith," Sans quoted at her, his grin growing. "But seriously, it is magic. I'm not sure what other explanation you're lookin' for here, Princess, but that's all it is."

He watched her face, interested in the thoughtful expression that slowly took over.

"What?" He questioned. Aeris bit her lip and looked away from him, her cheeks flushing pink.

"Nothing," she said too quickly. Sans grinned.

"You look like there's something on your mind, Princess."

Her lips pursed, gaze growing stubborn, refusing to look at him. Chuckling to himself, Sans reached up, gripping her chin and turning her face back to his. Her head turned obediently, apparently powerless to resist.

"Let me guess," he drawled, holding back the rest of his snickers as he grinned up at her, "you're wonderin' what _other_ things I can make out of magic. Amirite?"

Aeris refused to say anything, but her expressions were always honest: she blushed red all the way from her chin to the roots of her hair. Sans snickered at the sight.

"Nailed it," he gloated, leaning forward a little. "Seems you're not as innocent as we thought, Princess."

"Oh shut up," Aeris huffed, and Sans snickered some more. She broke his grip on her chin, flopping on him, her face pressed into the space between his jaw and spine. Sans allowed it, shifting his skull to give her more room, his fingers tapping idle rhythms against her back.

"Is that something you're…interested in?" Sans had to ask after a moment, his curiosity getting the best of him. Aeris didn't speak. Sans wondered if she was just ignoring him, or if she had finally fallen asleep.

Suddenly, he felt her fingers tiptoeing over his shirt, stroking his sternum through the fabric. He grunted a little, the sound approving.

"…I don't know if 'interested' is the word, necessarily," she mumbled, and he felt her voice reverberating through his rib cage from where her chest was touching him. "It's more of a…curiosity. I mean…" She huffed, her breath short and frustrated, tickling Sans' spine. Sans looked over as she propped her head up on her elbow, frowning down at him like he had offended her. "You're _literally_ a skeleton," she pointed out, sound needlessly exasperated by that fact.

Sans widened his eye sockets at her in shock.

"Oh shit, really?" He questioned in mock surprise, lifting a bony hand and staring at it as if he had never seen it before. "Welp, that explains why everything I eat goes right _through_ me—"

"Smartass," Aeris grumbled, swatting his rib cage. Sans grinned at her.

"What happened to 'punny bonehead'? I like that one better, it's more kid-friendly. And it's more accurate, since I technically don't have an ass—"

"Sans," Aeris interrupted him, her eyebrows raised. 'Be serious', her expression commanded, and Sans sobered up, though he still chuckled to himself.

"All right. So I'm a skeleton." He gazed up at her, suddenly unsure. "That isn't a problem, is it?" He was guessing not, since Aeris didn't seem to mind it a minute ago, but he never really knew anything about her for sure until he bothered to ask. They were closer than ever now, but he was still having trouble reading her.

Aeris' brow furrowed, her lips puckering. She looked like she was asking for a kiss. Sans was tempted to oblige her…but he doubted she'd appreciate the interruption when it looked like she was thinking so hard. Besides, she was kind of leaving him on tenterhooks, here.

"No," she replied soon enough, and Sans relaxed. "That doesn't bother me, exactly. I'm just questioning everything I thought I knew, now." Her nose wrinkled again, and Sans was struck by how cute that was. "I didn't even know it was _possible_ for me to be attracted to a skeleton."

"You're attracted to me?" Sans couldn't help but tease. Aeris gave him a deadpan look.

"Not you, specifically, Sans. I'm talking about _all_ skeletons. I've been smooching your brother in his room, too. Didn't I tell you?"

Sans' grin dropped.

"Ouch," he said mildly, but by the way Aeris' expression changed, he could tell he wasn't successful at just playing her jab off.

"I was kidding," she bothered to assure him, biting her lip. "Sorry. I guess it wasn't funny, considering the circumstances."

It really wasn't. Sans tried to grin despite this.

"Don't worry. I knew you were joking."

Aeris frowned. Sans wanted to reach up, to smooth that furrow in her brow away with his thumb…but he couldn't quite manage it just now.

"…He talked to me the other day, you know," she said, glancing away from Sans. "When I was lying in bed like an invalid."

Sans had to smile a little at the faint disgruntled tone he heard in her voice. "You had a fever," he reminded her.

"Still." Aeris closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, they were soft. "Anyway…Papyrus had a chat with me after Dogami and Dogressa left. About you."

Sans stiffened. Oh no. He didn't…did he? Sans didn't remember asking Papyrus to keep how he felt about Aeris to himself, and he was almost certain that he had told everyone else, but he hadn't actually told _Aeris_ , had he?

"What…what did he say…?" Sans asked, trying to keep his panicking to a minimum.

Abruptly, Aeris was grinning.

"Well, he didn't say anything _directly_ about you," she corrected herself. "He just sat down and had an honest conversation with me about where my relationship with him was going. Or, where it wasn't. He was very sweet and understanding when I confessed that I still didn't feel the same way about him. I felt horrible, but he was just grinning the whole time. He asked for us to be the best of friends instead, and I agreed. As he was leaving, though, he got this shifty look on his face. And he said, 'And, uh, if you happen to, er, start feeling feelings for someone _other_ skeleton…that's just fine, too. Just make sure you treat the other skeleton right! Er, not that there _is_ another skeleton or anything…nyeh heh heh…' And then he left."

Aeris smirked down at Sans, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "Took me a while to figure out who he was talking about, to be honest."

Sans said nothing. His brother was such a meddler.

Words couldn't express how much Sans loved him.

"So," he began after a moment, a small grin forming on his mouth, "this other skeleton…what's his name?"

Aeris raised her eyebrows. "What makes you think it's a he?"

Sans' grin widened. "Oh? Is it a she? Do you have a thing for other princesses, Princess? How scandalous."

"Don't kinkshame me," Aeris shot back, playfully poking his forehead. Sans caught her hand before she lowered it, pressing it to his cheekbone. Aeris allowed it, resting her head under his jaw again. They stayed like that for a while.

"Are we still asking and answering questions?" Sans wanted to know, breaking the silence. He felt Aeris laugh.

"I'm pretty sure we broke that pattern a while ago," she admitted. "But you can go ahead."

Sans took the permission and ran with it.

"When you play the piano, do you not have to look at the music?"

"Not if it's a song I know."

"What was the song earlier today?"

Aeris paused. Sans couldn't be sure, but he thought her forehead was growing warm. Was she blushing?

"It doesn't have a name," she mumbled. There was a false note in her voice. Sans considered asking her why she was bothering to lie about something as simple as a piano song…but then he let it go.

"What's your favorite thing to play on the piano?"

"Hmm…ah. Moonlight Sonata, by Mozart. Definitely."

"That another one you know by heart?"

"I can play it in every key." The pride in Aeris' voice made Sans grin.

"I wanna to hear you play it sometime."

"It's not a very cheerful song."

"Doesn't have to be. If you love to play it, I wanna watch you play it."

Aeris buried her face so that it was pressed up against Sans' spine. He could feel the heat radiating from her face. Definitely blushing. He chuckled to himself.

"So if you don't have to think about the music, what do you think about, when you play?"

"You're awfully curious about this little hobby of mine."

Sans laced his fingers with hers, lowering their hands away from his face so that they rested against his sternum.

"I dunno if anyone's told you," he began quietly, "but when you play…you look like you're in heaven. Something that makes you that happy, even if it is a hobby…I want to know all about it. Does that make sense?" He asked when Aeris didn't reply. Her fingers tightened around his hand in response. He answered her squeeze with one of his own.

"I do think about the music when I play," Aeris corrected his assumption after a quiet moment. "I think about how it sounds, and how it makes me feel."

"What were you thinking about when you played earlier?"

Aeris' fingers tightened around Sans' hand again, and the heat from her face grew.

"…You," she admitted, almost too quietly for him to hear.

Sans stopped breathing. That was the last answer he was expecting. But now that she had said it, something fiercely powerful exploded inside him. It soared inside him, making him feel as if he was flying, just from such a simple confession from this beautiful blushing girl in his arms.

He had never felt it so strongly before, but he could name it almost immediately: joy.

"…...I'm flattered, Princess," he said at last, his voice just as quiet.

Sans felt rather than heard Aeris' yawn. Guess it was time for the interrogation to end.

"Get some sleep," he urged, wrapping his arms securely around Aeris, as if he was afraid she would disappear into the night if he dared to let go.

"Mmm…" Aeris hummed, settling into him. He was a little surprised that she seemed so comfortable—lying on nothing but bones didn't sound like an ideal sleeping situation. But she didn't move away from him, so if she really wanted to stay like this, Sans didn't have the heart to move her. He certainly wouldn't complain about this sleeping arrangement.

"It does have a name," Aeris said suddenly, once again when Sans believed she had finally surrendered to sleep. Feeling drowsy himself, it took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about.

"The song you played earlier?"

"Mm-hm."

Sans waited, but Aeris said nothing else. Feeling a little put out with her, Sans said gruffly, "Well, don't leave me hangin', Princess. You still have me _hooked_ , you know."

He felt Aeris' lips pull back into a smile against his jaw.

"Punny Bonehead," she said. It wasn't until after he felt her finally drift into unconsciousness that he realized she wasn't just calling him by his favorite nickname.

She was also answering his question.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: A Happy Occasion

**A/N : Alternately named "An Excuse for the Author to Dress Aeris Up". Enjoy!**

* * *

At first, Aeris and Sans gave absolutely no signs that they had agreed to be in a relationship. They went about their daily lives, Aeris going to work, Sans lazing about, hanging out with their friends, etc. The only thing that had really changed was that Aeris now slept in Sans' room, something they were careful about—Aeris didn't come up to Sans' room until Papyrus was asleep, and she was back on the couch before the tall skeleton was awake. They were very careful to act like everything was the same.

Their efforts were wasted, because it did nothing to stop their friends from treating them like they were in a relationship.

Papyrus and Alphys giggled whenever Sans and Aeris so much as looked at each other, and had taken to passing a packet of paper back and forward, which Sans suspected to be a fanfiction they might be writing together. Undyne had taken to asking Sans very loudly what he was looking at whenever she caught him staring at Aeris from afar, thereby embarrassing and irritating him. Toriel made frequent excuses to brush Aeris' hair, trying out different hairstyles and asking Sans' opinions on them. The only subtle person out of the group was Asgore, though Sans couldn't help but noticed that he seemed rather pleased by the new development. Sans chose to believe that it was because he wanted to see Aeris happy, and not because he was relieved that Sans had lost interest in his ex-wife.

Frisk was the bluntest about the situation.

" _How do you kiss if Sans doesn't have lips?_ " They signed to Aeris one day, making her flush red.

"Frisk!" Toriel chided, spotting the exchange over the laundry she was folding. "That's not polite!"

" _I'm just asking!_ " Frisk replied with a nonchalant shrug. " _They're not like you and Dad, smacking your lips together when you kiss—_ "

"Frisk!" Now Toriel was the red one, and Sans buried himself in his hoodie so no one would catch him laughing.

" _If you and Sans have babies,_ " Frisk started again when Toriel bent down to retrieve a sock that fell out of the basket, " _will they be bone babies, or human babies?_ "

"Do you even know where babies come from?" Aeris asked, determinedly not looking at Sans.

" _Of course I do…_ " Frisk paused, as if they just remembered something, and then turned to face Toriel. " _Mom, where do human babies come from?_ "

"Bed time," Toriel decided, much to Aeris' apparent relief.

"Kids," she grumbled as Toriel led Frisk away, still relentlessly signing baby questions at her. She sent a furtive glance Sans' way and grinned. "They always wanna know too much."

Sans returned her grin half-heartedly. Aeris noticed.

"What's up?" She asked, turning towards him now.

"Nothin'. I was just thinkin'…the kid's got a point."

Aeris raised her eyebrows at him. "About whether or not we'll be having bone children or human children?"

"Nah," Sans said, though he grinned genuinely now; the way Aeris said it made the concept sound ridiculous. The grin didn't last, however. "I mean…the whole kids in general thing."

Aeris' eyebrows disappeared into her hairline.

"Are you trying to tell me you want kids, Sans?"

"Not exactly. Frisk is a handful on their own. But I just wondered…whether you wanted them."

Aeris stared at him for a long moment. Sans began to perspire under her gaze, wishing he had kept his mouth shut. Finally, Aeris spoke.

"I'm never going to have children, Sans. Even if I lived long enough to have one, my body wouldn't be able to handle the strain."

Her tone was matter-of-fact. Sans searched her face, wondering if there was a secret sadness to this truth. If there was, she hid it well.

"You haven't been coughing as much, lately," he noted out loud for the first time since he realized it. "Who knows? Maybe you're gettin' better."

Aeris smiled a wistful smile.

"Maybe," she allowed before she looked away. Sans didn't need to look into her eyes to tell that she was humoring him. Aeris entertained no false hope about her own health, whereas Sans, who had somehow fallen so deeply in love with her and wasn't willing to let her go, couldn't help but pray for a miracle. And he hated that what he saw as a loss was just a matter of fact for Aeris. Anything else that she might've wanted in life—marriage, children, to live until old age—she couldn't have due to the limitations of her body. It wasn't fair to Sans, but to Aeris…it was simply how her life was. The way she just accepted it made him ache in both strange and familiar ways.

The weather was beginning to warm. Snow was transforming into rain, and the wind lost its bitterness. Spring was coming, but apparently springtime love was in the air already. The proof came one wet afternoon, when Aeris and the skeleton brothers were babysitting Frisk. The child had requested to hang out with their monster friend today, simply named Kid, but instead of spending the day indoors, they chose to play out in the rain, running around and stomping in puddles, splashing water everywhere. Aeris had left Toriel's house to keep a closer eye on them, a yellow umbrella in her grasp as she stood near the tree line, grinning to herself as she watched the children play. Papyrus left the house as well, not wanting to be left out of the puddle jumping. Eventually, Sans convinced himself to leave the comfort of the couch and join them, too.

The short skeleton didn't bother with an umbrella, letting the rain wash over him as he walked towards them, grinning at the way his brother laughed when he jumped into a particularly large puddle. He approached Aeris, who was watching Frisk, humming under her breath. Sans didn't recognize the tune, so he asked her what she was humming.

Aeris blinked, and the melody faded to nothing. "Was I humming?"

"Yes?" Sans said, giving her a strange look. "Unless I was imagining it…"

"Probably not," Aeris admitted, looking sheepish. She shifted her grip on the umbrella, angling it so that Sans was sheltered from the rain as well. "Sometimes I do it without realizing it. My mom thinks it's funny; she says the only time I compose is when I'm off in La-La Land."

"Ah, La-La Land. I've heard it's actually just so-so."

Aeris opened her mouth—most likely to curse/threaten Sans for the horrible pun—but then she just sighed. "Damn it. I set you up for that one perfectly."

Sans grinned. "So, you write your own songs, huh?"

"Not consciously. Like I said, sometimes melodies will come to me, and I just start humming them without realizing it. It's like someone else is putting them in my head…" She frowned a little. "That sounds weird, doesn't it?"

"Stranger things have happened," Sans allowed. Trying not to be too self-conscious about it, he removed one of his hands from his pockets, cautiously sliding his fingers through Aeris'. Her gaze was back on the children, but she blushed a little and smiled, squeezing his hand.

"HEYA, PUNKS!" Called a voice from a distance, and Sans and Aeris turned to find Undyne strutting towards them, a wide grin on her face. Kid and Frisk eagerly ran forward to greet her, and she rubbed their heads, ruffling Kid's spikes and mussing Frisk's hair. "Enjoying the weather? I know I am!"

"Do you wanna jump in puddles with us, Undyne?" Papyrus asked, moving forward to greet his friend as well. Undyne, however, shook her head.

"I would, but I'm busy today. Hey, Sans! Quit being all lovey-dovey with Aeris and get over here! I've got something to give you!"

Hastily dropping each other's hands, Aeris and Sans made their way over to the impromptu meeting.

"What's up, Undyne?" Aeris asked when they were close enough. As an answer, Undyne withdrew two fancy-looking envelopes from inside her jacket.

"Here ya go! Wedding invitations!" She announced, handing the envelopes to Sans and Papyrus. Aeris ushered the tall skeleton under her umbrella as well so that his envelope wouldn't get wet.

"Are you and Alphys getting married?" She asked, looking delighted at the thought. Sans snickered into his hoodie as Undyne turned bright red.

"Wha—what makes you think—NO! I'd make invitations that are TEN TIMES cooler than these!" She exploded, getting hyped up the more embarrassed she got. "B-besides! Alphys and I—we haven't even TALKED about marriage yet! Don't rush me, you punk!"

"Okay, sorry!" Aeris apologized, her eyes wide as she held up her free hand in surrender. But Sans saw that she was trying to hold back a smile, and he grinned a conspirator's grin.

Undyne settled down, though her face hadn't returned to its normal blue hue just yet.

"ANYWAY. The wedding's for these punks that used to work for me. Royal Guard 01 and Royal Guard 02."

"They're getting married?" Papyrus questioned, his jaw dropping as he tore open the envelope and saw the proof for himself. "That's—WOWIE! IT'S SO COOL OF THEM TO INVITE US, TOO!"

"Well, technically I'M inviting you," Undyne corrected, giving her sharp-toothed grin. "RG 01 asked me to be the best man, and he said I could invite three guests. You should feel honored!"

"Only three?" Sans asked, his gaze going up to Aeris, who looked back at him questioningly. He couldn't help but notice that Aeris hadn't been given an envelope, after all…

"Well, if you _really_ want to, you're allowed to bring dates," Undyne allowed, and Sans didn't like the way she grinned at him when she said that. He fought off a blush as she continued, "Alphys is coming as my date, of course, and I invited Asgore, too, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna ask Toriel to be his date. Oh, hey, Frisk! RG 01 and RG 02 want you to be the ring bearer! Think you can handle it?"

" _Cool,_ " Frisk signed, giving a thumbs up.

"Awww! I wanna be in the wedding, too!" Kid protested, hopping up and down and splashing water over everyone else's shoes. Undyne considered him.

"Hmm…well, I'll ask if 01 and 02 need anyone else…but don't get your hopes up, Kid."

She turned around. "Anyway, that's it. I've got other stuff that needs to be delivered, so I'll see you punks later!"

After exchanging short farewells, Undyne went on her way, and Papyrus, Frisk and Kid resumed their game of Water Tag. Sans shoved his unopened wedding invitation into the pocket of his hoodie, feeling a little nervous. Well, this was a fine predicament Undyne had put him in…

He glanced up at Aeris. Her eyes were on Frisk, and she had started humming the melody from before once again. Sans listened as the melody began to evolve, becoming a beautiful harmony that made him ache for a reason he couldn't fully explain. How could Aeris do that without even thinking about it? Her musical power was dangerous.

Abruptly, he wondered what a humming concert between her and Shyren would sound like.

Sans cleared his throat, and Aeris glanced over at him. An amused sparkle lit her eyes.

"Yes?" She prompted when Sans didn't say anything. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to figure out how to begin.

"So," he began, searching frantically for words that apparently refused to come, "…there's gonna be a wedding," he finished lamely.

Aeris looked like she was working hard not to smile as she glanced away from him, gaze returning to the playing children.

"Seems like it," she agreed. "Are Royal Guard 01 and Royal Guard 02 actual names?"

"As far as we know. They've never corrected anyone," Sans grumbled. As far as he knew, he'd never even seen 01 and 02 out of their guard armor either, even though the Royal Guard disbanded ages ago. It was fine, he supposed, since they worked in a medieval-themed restaurant, but even so…

"What're they like?" She asked curiously. Sans saw the opportunity and seized it.

"You'll find out when you meet them at the wedding," he said.

A smirk formed on Aeris' face as she turned to look at him.

"I don't think I was invited," she pointed out to him matter-of-factly. Sans was glad for the rain so she couldn't see him sweat.

"I just invited you," he returned. Aeris' smirk turned into a full-blown grin.

"Are you giving me your invitation?" She teased. Sans tried to frown at her, but the corners of his mouth tilted the wrong way, and he ended up grinning instead. Old habits died hard, it appeared.

"You're givin' me a work-out here, Princess," he noted, catching on to what she was doing.

Aeris' eyes rounded out, making them wide and innocent. Too innocent. "Why, whatever do you mean, Sans?" She asked, the mischievous glint in her eyes all-too-telling. Sans let out an aggrieved sigh.

"You're really gonna make me say it?"

"It's the only way I'll know for sure what you're trying to ask me," she said gravely, though her smile ruined the effect.

Sans sighed again, quieter this time, and stretched out the collar of his turtleneck. Welp. It'd be better to get this over with sooner rather than later.

"…Aeris. Will you be my date to the Royal Guard wedding?" He asked, his eye sockets on the ground as he asked the question. He glanced up quickly to see her reaction, and Aeris made a show of giggling behind her hand.

"I thought you'd never ask," she teased, leaning over to kiss Sans' forehead. The short skeleton blushed, and Aeris grinned down at him. "There. Was that so hard?"

"Ya could've just thrown me a _bone_ , Princess," Sans grunted, thrown off his pun game because he was so embarrassed.

"Why? You have plenty," Aeris shot back with a grin. Sans snickered despite himself, and she winked. "But thanks for asking me. I can't wait to see what you'll look like in a suit."

Oh, right. Sans would have to dress up, wouldn't he? Ugh, he hated suits, with the suspenders, and the vests and the ties. It was such a bother.

Abruptly, Sans realized he'd be seeing Aeris all dressed up again for the wedding. Suddenly, he was grateful for an excuse to look his best. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so out of place when he stood beside her.

* * *

"Don't pick at your bow tie, Sans!" Papyrus scolded him, frowning when he caught Sans tugging at it once again. "It'll come undone!"

"It's a clip-on," Sans pointed out, unclipping the blasted thing to prove his point before he put it back on, not caring if it was a little crooked. "Do I really have to wear this thing?"

"YES! Bow ties are cool!" Papyrus asserted, reaching up to straighten his own. Sans doubted that he looked very cool in his, but he had to admit that Papyrus was rather dapper-looking in his black suit, accompanied with a red vest and bow tie. Sans didn't want to wear the vest or the bow tie, but since it was a nice occasion, he didn't have a choice in the matter. He wouldn't mind it so much if the vest and bow tie had been blue like he asked, but instead…

"Whose idea was it to put me in a pink vest and bow tie?" He grumbled for the thousandth time, frowning down at the offending vest.

"Princess requested it," Papyrus informed him with a shrug. "She said she wanted you to match."

"Match what?" He questioned, but Papyrus ignored him, pulling out his cell phone.

"Where are they? We're going to be late!"

Sans searched the parking lot, but there was no sign of an approaching car. He and his brother stood under an outcropping of the hotel where the wedding and reception were to take place, the wedding inside one of the halls, and the reception out in the garden. It was raining, however, so Sans wondered if the reception would have to be moved inside. He didn't much care about the state of his suit, but he doubted the other guests would be happy getting mud all over their nice clothes…

A human couple passed by, glancing curiously at the skeletons. Papyrus greeted them pleasantly enough, but Sans apparently smiled a little too wide, for they sped on their way, looking uncomfortable. Sans grunted to himself, fiddling with his bow tie once again. Just whose idea was it to have this thing at a human hotel? Weren't there any nice monster venues they could've chosen to get married at?

"Ah!" Papyrus called, drawing Sans out of his cranky thoughts. He looked up as Papyrus pointed a finger at a pair of headlights that flashed in their direction, "that should be them now!"

If it wasn't, then this truck was just huge for no reason. Sans watched, Papyrus jittering excitedly next to him, as the large white truck pulled up in front of them. There was the sound of a door slamming, and Asgore appeared under a large, purple umbrella. Sans was impressed that the ex-king had managed to find a suit that fit him, let alone shoes. He gave them a friendly wave as he bustled around to the other side of the truck, opening the passenger door.

"Watch your step, dear," he cautioned, holding out a hand and helping Toriel out of the truck.

"I am fine, Asgore," she said with just a hint of impatience, though she blushed as she gathered the skirts of her lavender dress into one hand so she wouldn't step on them. She was a vision, Sans had to admit. Asgore was so lucky that she had decided to take him back.

The back door opened, and Frisk hopped out, clad in knee-high socks, dress shorts, a dress shirt, suspenders, a black bow tie, and a black ribbon tied into their hair.

"Lookin' good, kiddo," Sans complimented with a thumbs up to Frisk, who grinned and returned the gesture. They deployed a black umbrella and, like their father, reached into the truck to help someone else out.

"Why, thank you, Frisk," Sans heard the teasing voice of Aeris as a pink high heel appeared, stepping onto the pavement. Frisk carefully led her out of the truck, and once her footing was solid, they pushed the door shut behind her.

Sans' jaw dropped.

The dress Aeris wore was varying shades of pink, the gradient darkening the lower the dress went. It tied closed over her right shoulder, accented by pink lilies, leaving the other shoulder bare, save for the pink, gauzy pashmina she had draped around her upper arms. Her dress bunched up on the right side as well, revealing quite a bit of her right leg. Aeris' dark hair was piled on top of her head by what Sans could only assume was magic, curling slightly and also accessorized with pink lilies, once again appearing as if she had a garden sprouting from her hair. Her make-up was subtle, but perfect, and her smile was dazzling.

Sans felt someone helpfully shut his jaw for him, and he looked over to find Frisk grinning a knowing grin at him. Blushing, the short skeleton looked away.

"WOWIE!" Papyrus exclaimed, gawking at Aeris as well. "You look amazing, Princess!"

Aeris laughed. "Thanks, Papyrus." She gave him a wink. "You look great, too."

"Well, of course! I AM great! Nyeh heh heh!"

Aeris' gaze shifted over to Sans. He began to sweat, looking away as he tugged self-consciously at his bow tie, suddenly feeling stupid. What was he thinking? Daring to try and dress up in an attempt to match the goddess before him…the idea was laughable now, and Sans wanted nothing more than for a convenient hole to open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole, whisking him away into the Underground, where he belonged…

"Wow," he heard Aeris say softly, and he dared to look back up at her, astonished to find that she was blushing almost as much as he was. She grinned a little, reaching up to tug on a strand of her hair. "You clean up better than I expected, Sans," she complimented.

A snarky joke would've done wonders here. Sadly, it appeared that Sans forgot how words worked. He could only stammer out a pitiful excuse for a thank you before he had to drop his gaze again, tugging more at his bow tie, because the damn thing just wouldn't straighten out.

He heard a soft laugh, and suddenly, Aeris was there, leaning over him.

"Here, let me," she requested, and her hands eased his away from the bow tie. With two simple movements, she fixed it, smoothing it out for him. She glanced up, meeting his gaze with a look that was almost sheepish. "Sorry for forcing you to wear pink," she apologized, grimacing. "I wanted to wear lilies for the occasion."

Sans eyed the flowers on her shoulder and in her hair. "You must really like them," he noted, relieved to find that his voice sounded almost normal.

Aeris smiled. "They're my favorite flowers."

Sans matched her smile, appreciating the information. She'd been more conscious about telling him all her likes and dislikes lately, and Sans couldn't be more relieved by that. Not only was she ceasing to be a mystery, but she was actually pleased to share these details with him. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside…in a good way.

"Hey!" Papyrus called, and Sans was startled to find that he, Toriel, Asgore and Frisk were already moving on ahead, into the hotel. "You guys better hurry up or you'll be late! And Undyne won't be happy if you're late!"

"I wouldn't put it past her to noogie anyone who's late," Aeris admitted with a grave look, making Sans snicker. He cleared his throat, blushing a little as he offered her his arm.

"Shall we?"

Grinning, Aeris slipped her arm through his, allowing him to lead them forward. It felt nice, being able to do this, and Sans suddenly found himself wishing that there were more occasions for Aeris to dress up. He supposed he could always ask her out for more dates, but…

This was a date.

The short skeleton blushed furiously. Holy shit, he hadn't even realized…this counted as a date, didn't it? Oh god, he was on a date with Aeris. Oh god oh god oh god oh god—

"Sans?"

He jumped, his eye sockets going to Aeris' face. They were waiting their turn to be seated in the hall, and she was peering down at him, looking concerned…and a little amused. "You okay?" She wanted to check. He fidgeted, rubbing the back of his skull with his free hand.

"O-of course! Sure I'm okay, why wouldn't I be? Ha ha…are you okay?"

Aeris raised an eyebrow, and Sans sighed.

"Okay…I'm a little nervous," he reluctantly admitted. Aeris smiled, then leaned over and kissed his cheekbone. The short skeleton blushed deeper. He wished she wouldn't—as nice as the kisses were, they weren't exactly helping him calm down.

"Breathe," she urged him, speaking softly so the monsters in front of them wouldn't hear, "it's okay. This doesn't have to be a big thing. It's just you and me, out with friends, celebrating a wedding. Okay?"

Sans closed his eye sockets, breathing in Aeris' scent. It was floral tonight, and he attributed it to the lilies she was wearing. It helped him calm down a little, and he nodded, opening his eye sockets.

"Okay," he agreed, and was promptly rewarded by one of Aeris' smiles. She straightened up as it was their turn to be seated. They stepped forward, but before they could get too far—

"AERIS!"

She jumped, startled into coughing as Undyne stomped their way, looking sharp in a black tuxedo and thoroughly irritated by something.

"What're you shouting for?" Sans wanted to know, reaching up to rub Aeris' back soothingly. The coughing didn't last, thankfully, and there was no blood this time. Sans' hope swelled again, despite his best efforts to beat it back. Maybe she really was getting better…

Undyne eyed Aeris apprehensively for a moment. "Oh. Sorry," she apologized with a huff as she ruffled her hair. "I've just been looking for you everywhere."

"What's up?" Aeris asked, once her breathing returned to normal. Undyne's expression shifted, becoming suddenly furious.

"It's that damn robot! He said he'd sing at the beginning of the wedding, but he's not here yet! And we're supposed to start in five minutes! 01's freaking the hell out, and Alphys is trying to keep him calm, but we really don't have time to stall. We don't have to worry about the end, since they have a song they want played from a CD, but…" Undyne huffed again, giving Aeris an awkward look. "Look, I know how you are about playing in public…but I'm really in a bind here. Can you help me out?"

Sans glanced up at Aeris to see her biting her lip. "Oh…I don't know…" she began, tugging on a strand of her hair.

"I'd owe you a HUGE favor," Undyne promised, slapping her hands together and lowering her head, the way her favorite anime character did when he was asking for something imposing. "Please, Aeris!"

Aeris gazed at Undyne, looking troubled. Sans noticed when she shifted her gaze to him, her eyes questioning. He gave her a shrug. It was really up to her whether she decided to do this or not. Sighing a little, Aeris squared her shoulders.

"Okay. But you owe me big time," she reminded Undyne. The fish lady's eye lit up and she stepped forward and lifted Aeris into a crushing hug.

"Thanks, punk! You're really doing me a solid, here!"

"Too strong…can't breathe, Undyne…!" Aeris ground out, and Undyne put her back down with a sheepish laugh.

"Whoops! Sorry. Anyway, there should be a piano set up in the hall. I'll go get some music for you!" As Undyne rushed off again, Aeris sighed, pressing her hands to her face.

"I can't believe I just did that," she grumbled. Sans chuckled.

"Ya coulda said no," he reminded her, but Aeris shook her head, frowning down at him.

"No I couldn't have. Not when she was asking so sincerely." She smirked. "Besides, I'm not so sure she wouldn't have suplexed me if I dared to say no."

"She wouldn't have," Sans said easily, gazing down the hall Undyne had run off to. "She loves you."

Aeris didn't reply. The short skeleton glanced over at her, but she was looking away from him, her lips pursed as she fiddled with a strand of her hair.

"Phalange for your thoughts?" He joked, poking her with a finger. Aeris' lips twitched.

"It's nothing," she said, though something about the way she blushed made Sans think she wasn't being very honest. "Guess I have a piano to play."

"Good luck." He caught her hand before she walked away, pressing it lightly to his face. Aeris' blush deepened, and he grinned. "And if you need inspiration…" He gave her a wink. "You know where to find me."

"Someone's full of themselves," Aeris grumbled, her face on fire. Sans grinned and released her hand, and she walked a little too quickly into the hall, heading for the piano.

For as much as she embarrassed him, she was just as easy to fluster. The thought comforted and amused Sans, and he strolled into the hall like he was king of the world.

The hall was lovely, he supposed—it was a high ceilinged room, decorated by two large chandeliers, the walls in white and the floor tiled with tan. A red carpet ran right down the middle of the room, leading to a removable arch, where…whoa, was that the Nice Cream guy? Sans had no idea the guy was even ordained, but he was standing there like he intended to officiate…this would be interesting.

On either side of the red carpet were rows and rows of white fold-out chairs, most of them occupied, since the ceremony was due to start at any moment. Sans spotted Papyrus' head at the front on the right, and he was glad to see that there was an empty chair next to him. He took that seat, thanking Papyrus for saving it for him.

"I saved a seat for Princess, too," Papyrus said, glancing over at Aeris, who was poised behind the piano in front of them, next to the arch, "but apparently she's going to sit at the piano during the wedding?"

"I think it's just for the beginning. Undyne asked her to play."

"Oh. I heard Mettaton was supposed to sing…I guess he couldn't make it?"

"Guess not," Sans said, not bothering to hide his grin.

A minute later, Undyne stormed in. She had a brief conversation with Aeris, who looked troubled, and then moved to the front of the aisle. Sans couldn't help but notice that the fish lady apparently wasn't able to locate any music for Aeris. He wondered if she was okay with that.

Judging by the expression on her face, he was betting on "not really".

"All right, punks, we're about to start! So nobody get out of your seat unless you want a spear to the face!"

Sans felt bad for anyone who suddenly realized they had to go to the bathroom. He knew the threat was empty, of course—Undyne would never skewer anyone on purpose—but from the looks of some of the monsters in the hall, he got the feeling that not a lot of them knew Undyne very well. He grinned encouragingly at Aeris, who gave him a tremulous smile in return. At Undyne's waving, she began to play as the fish lady marched back out of the hall. Abruptly, Sans recognized the melody—it was the one she was humming out in the rain the other day. Apparently, she had already finished the song, for it swelled into a melancholy melody, with a tenor of hopefulness weaving through it. Again, Sans ached, though he wasn't sure why. He noticed a lot of the monsters who didn't know Aeris were looking at her in astonishment, as if they were surprised that any human could play the piano that well. Sans became rather irritated when he noticed some of the looks were becoming adoring. Well, at least Aeris didn't seem to notice: she had her eyes closed, completely lost in the music, a slave to her passion.

The doors of the hall opened once again. Undyne strode forward, a blushing Alphys on her arm, looking adorable in a periwinkle blue dress. They seemed to struggle with taking their time down the aisle—Undyne looked as if she wanted to march forward and speed things along, and Alphys looked eager to be out of the spotlight as soon as possible. They made it to the end and then proceeded to stand on either side of the arch.

Next came Frisk, and to Sans' mild surprise, Kid. Their arms were also linked, with Frisk holding the pillow that contained the rings, and Kid tossing what looked like sparkles from a small basket. There was a tense moment, in which Kid tripped and nearly fell on his face halfway down the aisle, but Frisk steadied him just in time, and they made it to the arch without further incident. Everyone took this as their cue to stand. Sans followed suit, turning to watch the doors of the hall opening a third time.

There stood Royal Guard 01 and Royal Guard 02, arm in arm in identical white tuxedos. They both still wore their helmets from their royal guard armor, which Sans found confusing, but hey, it was their wedding. The music Aeris played slowed, changing to something softer and more uplifting when they entered. The room seemed to sigh as the former guards made their way down the aisle, nodding to friends and family. Aeris let her song trail off on a final note once they reached the arch, and she quietly took leave of the piano, heading for the front row. Papyrus helpfully moved over, allowing her to sit next to Sans.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Friends and family!" The Nice Cream guy began, and then he launched into a story about how he always knew this day would come, from the minute he served 01 and 02 the ice cream they had on their first date. Sans zoned out, letting his mind wander. Toriel and Asgore sat on the other side of Papyrus, Toriel dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Even Papyrus looked emotional, though he was trying to bear it as stoically as possible…and not quite succeeding. But Sans was most surprised to find that Aeris was tearing up when she reached into her purse and withdrew a tissue to dab at the corners of her eyes like Toriel. Sans gave her a questioning look, wondering if anything was wrong, but she just shook her head at him with a smile and a pat to his hand, which he took to mean that he shouldn't worry. It didn't stop him, however, and he kept her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Aeris gave him another watery smile and squeezed his hand.

As the ceremony continued, something troubling occurred to Sans: was Aeris crying because this was something she herself would never get to experience? She seemed okay with not being able to have kids, but what if she wanted to get married, and this ceremony was reminding her that she would never be able to? Did that make her sad?

Sans glanced over at her, wishing he could ask her, but Undyne had already interrupted the wedding to tell off a member of the audience for talking during the ceremony, and Sans was certain he wouldn't be able to get away with it while sitting in the front row. So he contented himself with holding onto Aeris' hand for now, grinning along with her when Frisk stepped forward with the rings, and the Nice Cream guy officially declared Royal Guards 01 and 02 "bros for life". Sans snickered at the sound of the guards' helmets clanking together as they went in for a kiss, but it was actually rather heartwarming, the way neither of them let such huge pieces of metal get in the way of expressing their love for each other. The crowd cheered as the newlyweds marched down the aisle once again, and Sans gave a start when he recognized the song that played.

"Isn't this from one of your princess movies?" He asked Aeris, offering her his arm again as everyone began to file out of the hall. She looked like she was trying very hard not to burst into hysterics.

"Mulan. It's called 'I'll Make a Man out of You'." She covered her mouth with a hand, and a giggle or two slipped from her. "I guess it fits?"

Sometime during the ceremony, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, leaving twinkling stars to dot the inky blackness above. The reception was to take place in a large tent in the gardens due to the rain, but since it cleared up, a decision was reached to take down the tent and just have the reception outdoors. There would still be seating accommodations on the patio and around the dance floor, so mud wouldn't be an issue, as long as everyone was careful. Sans snickered at the relief on Aeris' face over this.

"Hey, this dress cost a lot," she pointed out, lower lip jutting out in a pout, apparently unappreciative of Sans' amusement. "It would suck to get mud all over it."

"Yeah. Then you'd have to take it off." Sans paused, grinning slowly at the blush that filled Aeris' face. "That'd be a damn shame."

"Pervert," she accused, glancing away from him. Sans gave a shrug as they, Papyrus, Toriel, Asgore, and Frisk claimed a table for themselves at the edge of the dance floor.

"Can ya blame me, Princess? You're the one walkin' around with those endless legs on full display."

Aeris turned bright red and self-consciously uncrossed her legs.

"You can only see one of them," she grumbled, and then added more quietly, "I told Undyne it was too sexy."

"Undyne picked it out?"

At Aeris' nod, Sans glanced over at the fish lady, who was taking a seat next to Alphys at the table next to them.

"Undyne," he called, giving her an 'ok' symbol when she looked up. "Good choice," he said, jerking his head at Aeris. Undyne grinned at Aeris' blushing face.

"Told ya he'd like it!" She bragged, and Aeris pressed her hands to her face and groaned.

One of the rabbits from Snowdin was serving as the DJ, and he asked everyone to kindly turn their attention to the dance floor, where the newlyweds would be sharing their first dance as a married couple. There was something surprisingly sweet about the moment, Sans couldn't help but notice, watching the former guards as they shuffled around the dance floor. 01 seemed to have two left feet—perhaps even literally—but 02 was quite smooth on his feet, and he led the dance. Sans glanced over at Aeris, both surprised and unsurprised to find her in tears once again.

"Ya gotta stop with the waterworks, Princess," he said gruffly, withdrawing a handkerchief that came with his suit from a pocket and handing it to her. "I'm gonna start thinkin' you're not having a good time with me."

Aeris laughed a little at that, dabbing at her eyes, her make-up still perfect despite all the tears she'd shed that evening.

"It's not you," she assured him with a sniff, giving him a small smile. "It's just touching to see two people so in love."

Sans glanced away from her, suddenly embarrassed. Why was it that he couldn't help but blush whenever she said the word "love" lately? It was getting to be a problem.

"Good thing it's not your own wedding, then. You'd probably be a fountain of tears," Sans said without really thinking about it. His blush deepened when he realized how stupid the words he'd just _spouted_ were, but Aeris just laughed.

"Maybe," she allowed, grinning a little. Sans watched her as her eyes returned to the dancing couple, looking almost wistful. He fidgeted, glancing between her and the dancing guards, tugging at his bow tie. He'd never know unless he asked, right? But still, just the thought of asking was beginning to make him sweat…

"D'you—I mean—" He avoided Aeris' curious gaze as she looked over at him, and cleared his throat. "Is this…something you want? The big wedding, the white dress and stuff? 'Cause, if it is, I mean, I've already got a suit…"

Holy shit, was he really asking her this right now? Sans could feel himself beginning to sweat profusely, and his skull was way too hot for his comfort. What was he thinking? He hadn't even told her he loved her yet, and now, he was suddenly proposing?! What was wrong with him?

Aeris reached over and took his hand.

"Sans," she said softly, and waited. The short skeleton looked over at her, noting that the smile she aimed at him was more than a little sad. "You don't have to give me the moon, you know," she quietly pointed out.

Sans grinned a little. "Who said anything about the moon? Though, I have to admit, we do share similarities—"

The puns he was about to spout were stopped when Aeris leaned in and kissed his cheekbone. He flushed dark blue, his jaw snapping shut. Aeris grinned.

"You know what I mean," she told him with a pointed look, giving his hand a squeeze. "I may be dying, but I'm not a 'bucket list' type of girl. I prefer to just live in the moment. Can we do that? Just live in the moment?"

Sans stared at her, torn between pressing his point and making a bucket pun. He was still debating as the DJ invited all couples to join the newlyweds on the dance floor. Toriel and Asgore promptly rose from their seats, and they joined the dancing guards, along with a handful of other monsters. Grunting to himself, Sans squared his shoulders and picked the hidden third option of his debate: he let it go.

"C'mon, Princess," he invited, keeping her hand as he got to his feet. "Let's dance."

This somehow managed to catch Aeris by surprise, and she merely blinked at him for a moment.

"Really?" She asked, tilting her head to one side. Sans grinned at her.

"This qualifies as 'living in the moment', doesn't it?"

"Well, sure. But I'm taller than you," she pointed out, as if he didn't know already, "and I'm wearing heels." A small, shy smile turned up the corners of her lips. "Won't you feel silly dancing with me?"

How could she be worried about something so stupid? Sans gave a shrug.

"No problem. I'll just stand on your feet." He gave her a wink. "Then we'll both look silly."

Aeris laughed and got to her feet. "Well, when you put it that way…"

* * *

Sans was discovering the hard way that he couldn't leave Aeris alone for a second.

It didn't seem to matter that she had come in with him. It didn't seem to matter that she often took hold of his hand for no reason other than the pleasure of holding it. It didn't even seem to matter that they danced to most of the slow songs together, since the fast ones were a little too much for her to handle.

Sans hadn't been wrong about her admirers while she was playing her song during the wedding. And every time he dared to leave her side, they descended on her like ravenous wolves. His annoyance at the situation was severe, and he almost asked Papyrus to watch her when Sans had to step away…but Mettaton had finally showed up to the wedding, and upon realizing that Papyrus and Aeris were not a thing, he promptly stole the tall skeleton away to spend the night on the dance floor. And Sans didn't have the heart to ruin his brother's fun, so suffer in silence it had to be.

After returning to Aeris' side—and shooing Aaron away for the _twelfth time_ —Sans handed Aeris the punch he had gotten for her, regarding her grimly. She flushed at the way he stared.

"What?" She dared to ask after a sip of punch. Sans grinned in a reluctant way.

"I think you mighta had a point about the dress," he commented, and Aeris' face turned red. Of course, Sans didn't really think the dress was the issue—it was Aeris herself that was turning heads, something he was having trouble making peace with. The dress was just a convenient thing to lay blame on.

"I honestly don't understand where all the attention is coming from," she said earnestly, eyeing Aaron, who was watching her from across the dance floor. He winked at her, not-so-subtly flexing his pecs, and Sans' teeth clattered closed in annoyance.

"It's 'cause you're too beautiful," he grumbled under his breath, throwing back his punch in one gulp. His grumpiness somehow managed to make Aeris laugh.

"You're not jealous, are you?" She teased, grinning a knowing grin at him. He couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Why? Is my face green?" He joked, and Aeris giggled behind her hand. "Seriously, though, can ya blame me? Here you are, being hit on left and right, and I might as well be a Halloween decoration, for all the impact I seem to be making."

Aeris' smile faded at that. Sans sighed and opened his mouth, ready to assure her that he was just joking…mostly…when she leaned over and pressed her lips to his teeth. Not expecting it, Sans jumped, and took a hasty step back.

"Aeris—" He mumbled, embarrassed. The kisses to his forehead and cheekbones were fine, because they were sweet, but this…they were in _public_ , for god's sake. It might be just kissing, but the way it made Sans feel felt a little too intimate to be allowed in public.

Aeris ignored his discomfort, her hands holding his skull in place as she kissed him, and Sans shivered, the fireworks inside him whenever she kissed him beginning to build. He clutched at her wrists, the need for her sudden and violent, consuming him, making him close his eye sockets and forget the world around them ever existed in the first place.

' _I love you,_ ' he chanted to her in his mind, the words threatening to spill from him as always when she kissed him like this. ' _I love you, I love you, I love you—_ '

Aeris abruptly lurched away from him. Sans opened his eye sockets in time to see her press a hand over her mouth. He stared, confused. What was wrong? Had he bitten her by accident without realizing it?

"Aeris?" He asked, his hands sliding down her arms, but she straightened up, taking a step back from him, leaving him cold.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her hand still covering her mouth. Her eyes spoke apologies to him as she began to turn away. "I just need—bathroom. I'll be right back."

She hurried away, leaving Sans to stare after her. He flushed, rubbing the back of his skull. Well, that could've gone better. But what exactly had he done wrong? Had he really bitten her? Was she bleeding? Or—Sans gulped at the thought—had the words he'd been repeating over and over in his mind accidentally slipped through his teeth tonight? Had Aeris heard him and ran, not knowing how to respond? Did that mean…she didn't feel the same way?

Sans sighed, rubbing at his teeth, as if to scrape the last minute from existence, when he became aware that something was on his teeth. He pulled his hand back with a frown, wondering if he had been kissing Aeris with punch coating his teeth or something—

The substance on his hand was too thick and too dark to be punch.

And it was too much blood to be from a bitten lip.

Sans froze for one heart-stopping moment. And then he took off running.

There was a bathroom right down the hall from the garden entrance of the hotel. Sans skidded to a stop in front of the ladies room, pounding on the door with his fist.

"Aeris!" He called, the pounding becoming more insistent the longer she didn't answer, "AERIS!"

There was a choking sound from around the corner. Sans spun towards it, speeding forward. Aeris was sprawled out on the floor, the front of her dress splattered with blood as she hunched over, heaving it all over the expensive-looking carpet without end. Sans stared, transfixed and horrified as the blood kept coming, staining everything. Oh god, there was _so much of it_ —

Aeris made another choking sound, clutching at her throat. And Sans could only stare as she gasped for air that wouldn't come, her throat blocked by the river of blood that was being forced from her. She convulsed once, twice. With a final gagging sound, she fell forward, the side of her face splattering in the mess. There was no light in her eyes.

Almost in a dream-like state, Sans moved forward. His hands were shaking, his whole body was rattling, but he ignored that, and pressed two fingers into Aeris' neck, waiting, praying…

There was no pulse. She was completely still. Too still.

' _Welp,_ ' reasoned a voice in the back of Sans' mind, a voice he knew all too well, ' _guess that's it, then. We knew this day was coming. We knew she didn't have long. And now…she's dead._ '

She was dead. Aeris was dead. The words pounded through Sans' skull, reverberating everywhere.

' _It was bound to happen sooner rather than later,_ ' the voice continued to reason in Sans' own easy-going voice, and he could almost feel it shrug. ' _It was stupid to think she'd last very long. But it's over now. She's gone. Time to throw in the towel._ '

Throw in the towel. Give up. Sans was familiar with the concept. He'd been doing it all his life. He'd given up ever seeing his old friends again. He'd given up believing in hope. He'd even given up on himself, never believing there was anything he could do that would be life-changing. It was just easier to give up. It made everything hurt less. He had had a lot of practice, and he was good at it. It would be so easy to just give up now, let her go…

Sans grit his teeth.

He was so _goddamn sick_ of giving up.

"HELP!" He shouted at the top of his voice, not caring who came, as long as someone did. "SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!"

He heard running feet and turned around. The human couple he'd leered at earlier had appeared. Their eyes widened simultaneously at the sight of Aeris' body.

"What happened?!" The man demanded, and Sans knew what this must look like—him, a monster, crouching over the body of a bloodied girl, who was quite clearly dead.

He didn't care how it appeared, though. If these people could bring Aeris back, he didn't care what happened to him anymore.

"She has a disease," he struggled to explain anyway, moving back as the man strode forward, crouching down at Aeris' side. "It makes her cough up blood. And she suddenly started coughing up so much of it—"

The man turned Aeris over onto her back. His eyes grew grim as he took her non-existent pulse.

"Call an ambulance," he instructed the woman behind him, and she whipped out a cell phone as he shrugged out of his jacket, rolling up his sleeves. "I need to perform CPR," he said to Sans, as if the skeleton should know what that was. "It may bring her back. Do I have your permission to help your friend?"

Sans gave a jerky nod, not caring what CPR was if there was a chance it would help Aeris. "Do it. Save her. Please."

The man nodded, and Sans could only watch numbly as he placed his hands over Aeris' chest, locking his fingers together. He began to press down in a rapid rhythm, his lips moving, as if he was counting under his breath. After a certain number—Sans had lost count—he leaned over, pressing his lips to Aeris'. He breathed twice into her mouth, seemingly unconcerned with the blood that now coated his lips due to the action. Sans felt a flicker of jealousy, but not for the reason he might've felt in another situation. He hated that he could only just sit here, watching as someone else fought for the life of the girl he loved, ignorant of the concept of CPR, not even having lips to be able to press to hers to save her life—

The man paused, pressing his ear to Aeris' chest. Nothing happened.

That did not appear to deter him, however. He resumed the compressions, and Sans heard the woman on the phone, murmuring in a low voice to someone on the other end of the line. She hung up a second later, turning distressed eyes towards the man.

"They say they'll be here in three minutes. Dante, shouldn't you be using a mask?"

"Don't have one on me tonight, Maria," he mumbled, sweat beginning to bead his forehead. The woman pursed her lips as he lowered his mouth to Aeris' once again, breathing into it. He paused again, and when there was no response, he resumed compressions.

Sans was getting panicky. Clearly, this man knew what he was doing, but it was also clear that there was only so much he could do. What if Sans was too late in calling for help? What if Aeris was too far gone, and nothing could call her back now? What if her soul—?

Her soul. Sans looked around, but he didn't see it anywhere. If Aeris truly couldn't be saved, wouldn't that mean her soul would've left her body? Did he miss it earlier, when he was panicking? Or…was it possible…

"Aeris!" He suddenly cried, startling the man that was helping her. "Don't give up! I know you want to live! You want to live so badly that it hurts! So stay determined!"

He grabbed one of her limp hands, squeezing tight. "Stay with me!"

Aeris gave a sudden gasp. Light returned to her eyes, and her body shook as she pushed herself to roll over, coughing dryly. The man and woman stared at Sans, as if he had just performed a miracle.

There was the sound of alarms outside, a siren blaring. The woman and man moved away, presumably to lead whoever had arrived to help to the right place. Sans was left alone with Aeris as she coughed weakly, her body still shuddering from the effort. She collapsed onto her side, wheezing, an arm bent protectively around herself. Sans clutched at her free hand, feeling like he was choking himself, his relief was so strong. Aeris' eyes flickered to him, seeming to have trouble focusing on him.

"S-Sans," she whimpered, but Sans shushed her, squeezing her hand.

"God, Princess," he grumbled, tears leaking from his eye sockets as he pushed her bloodied hair from her face. "I really can't leave you alone for a second."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter is about 9,000 words. I think it was a subconscious effort to make up for not posting a new chapter yesterday. :P**

 **~Reyna**


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Determination

**A/N : Here, have another long chapter. Merry Christmas! ...Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, just take it.**

* * *

The monsters waited in the lobby of the human hospital, oblivious to the stares and whispers they were inciting. Asgore sat beside Toriel, looking grim as she steadily wept into her handkerchief. Frisk sat beside her, swinging their legs off the end of the chair, but their heart wasn't really in the action. Alphys sat across from Toriel and Asgore as Undyne paced in front of them, and they looked at each other and away so often that they appeared to double-take, varying degrees of dread on their faces. And Papyrus hovered beside Sans, who stared at the floor and tried very, very hard not to think.

The man from before—Dante, Sans recalled—was a nurse at this hospital. It explained his fast reaction to Aeris, Sans supposed. For a human, he was a decent guy. He had allowed Sans to ride in the ambulance that took Aeris to the hospital, and had asked the receptionist at the front desk to allow Sans' friends in to keep him company. The receptionist had drawn the line at the whole wedding party, however, so only a handful of them were allowed to stay. And there was no debate as to who that handful should be.

Sans felt like he had been tranquilized. He seemed to process everything a lot slower, and he felt numb to everything. All he could focus on was breathing, which he did slowly as well, in and out, in and out.

Aeris had lost a lot of blood, he remembered the people in the ambulance saying—EMTs, he heard they were. She wouldn't survive from losing so much blood, especially if she kept coughing it up. She would need a blood transfusion as soon as they got to the hospital, which was mercifully close to the hotel, and one EMT remarked darkly that she hoped there was enough spare blood to give her.

The whole ride over, Sans prayed that the hospital had more than enough blood. He had also cursed himself for not calling Toriel or Papyrus to help, since both were proficient at healing magic. Leaving Aeris in the hands of a human hospital, even if she was human herself, just felt like the equivalent of waving a red blanket in front of a bull named Fate.

That was two hours ago. Undyne was steadily getting more and more restless, growling under her breath and grinding her knuckles into her palm, as if she wished there was a training dummy nearby that she could punch. Toriel seemed inconsolable, with the way she kept crying, her handkerchief soaked with tears. And Sans could only sit there and be numb, breathing, waiting, praying to whatever deity he could think of that was supposed to be in charge of good health…

Finally, footsteps approached the group. They all jumped to their feet, which made the nurse in scrubs pause. Sans recognized Dante under the mask, and he stepped forward.

"Is…is she…?"

He couldn't bring himself to say it. Not out loud.

Dante lowered his mask, looking grim. Sans noticed that there was blood splashed on the front of his scrubs.

"It was tense there. Her body kept rejecting the blood transfusions at first…"

Sans watched, on tenterhooks, as Dante's face eased into a smile.

"But she's fine. We managed to get her stabilized, and her heart's still beating. She's alive."

The rest of the monster party rejoiced, letting out sighs of relief and hugging each other. Only Sans remained still, watching Dante. Despite the good news, he couldn't help the sense he got that Dante had purposefully left out two words that should've been tacked on at the end of that sentence: "for now".

Dante met Sans' gaze, and he sobered.

"I have to ask you this," he said in a somber tone, though there was an apology in his dark eyes, "are you aware that Aeris Crown has been listed as a missing person for the past three months?"

Sans heard the celebration behind him pause. Someone gasped, but he didn't have to look to know who.

"Missing?" Toriel quoted, and Sans dropped his gaze from Dante's face. "I—no, we had no idea. We found her one day, passed out in the woods near our home. She never said anything about her parents, so we just assumed…"

Sans turned, catching the guilty look Toriel shot Frisk. The short skeleton wondered if she was worried that there was someone out there looking for Frisk, too.

Dante frowned. "Well, Dr. and Mr. Crown have been searching for her. They had flyers up as well as a website, advertising reward money for anyone who found her…"

He waited, but the monsters just continued to look concerned. Sans avoided the nurse' gaze. Though Dante probably couldn't see through him like Aeris could, Sans didn't want to take the chance; his guilt of knowledge might condemn everyone else.

It was a moment before Dante continued. "…Anyway, we had to call her parents. They're on the way now."

 _That_ got Sans' attention. His head snapped up, and he stared at Dante as if he had just transformed into a Temmie monster.

"You _what?_ " He questioned, feeling abruptly angry. Dante eyed him apprehensively, but he stood his ground.

"Hospital policy," he explained. "Next of kin has to be notified in the event of an accident."

Sans grit his teeth. He really should've just went to Papyrus or Toriel for help after all.

"They can't come here," he argued, ignoring the surprised gazes he could feel on his spine. "Aeris left home for a reason. They're terrible people who only know how to scream and blame each other for everything that goes wrong. She won't want to see them."

That assessment appeared to trouble Dante. He looked uncomfortable, but all he could do was shrug at the short skeleton.

"They're still her parents. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't tell them their daughter had been found." Dante paused, eyeing Sans, appearing to size him up. "…But if they cause her any kind of stress, they'll have to be escorted out. Miss Crown is of age, so technically, she doesn't need parental consent to check out of the hospital. Dr. and Mr. Crown had to be informed…but they don't have any right to make her do anything she doesn't want to." He gave Sans a solemn nod. "I'll make sure of that."

Sans felt his shoulders relax. It surprised him, how easily he could trust this human that he barely knew already. Was it a remnant of hero worship, gratitude to this man for saving the life of the girl Sans loved? Or had Sans just gotten better at recognizing sincerity when he saw it, even in humans?

"When can we see her?" Asgore asked, pulling Sans out of his reflections. Dante was looking uncomfortable again, and he glanced over his shoulder, as if to check that no one else was listening.

"Visiting hours are almost over, so only family can see her at this time," he reported, but then he leaned in, lowering his voice. "Hang around for a bit. Some of the docs here owe me favors. I'll see what strings I can pluck."

Toriel stepped forward, and Sans watched as she grasped Dante's hand.

"Thank you," she said fervently. Dante was looking a little uncomfortable again—Sans wondered just how afraid he was of monsters. But then he smiled a little, and Sans had to assume that the fear wasn't big enough to stop him from being a decent person.

"No thanks needed. I'm just doing my job, ma'am." He hesitated, and then patted Toriel's hand before taking a step back. "All right, I have rounds to make. I'll try and swing by in another hour to update you if anything else happens."

"Another hour?" Undyne questioned, looking irritable about the time constraint. Dante smiled.

"Sorry. We may be a hospital, but we're only human." He gave a shrug, and the way he held his mouth made Sans think the guy was trying not to snicker at his own joke. He gained more points in Sans' book. "In the meantime, get comfy. …Or, as comfortable as you can get in those crappy chairs, anyway. I'll see you all in a bit."

"Oh, thank goodness," Toriel sighed, a hand over her heart as she sank back down onto the chairs. "She's going to be all right."

"Of course she's going to be all right," Undyne replied with her sharp-toothed grin. "This is Aeris, we're talking about! She's _way_ too determined to kick the bucket just like that!"

"R-right!" Alphys added, clenching her fists. "B-besides! Aeris promised she'd finish Mew Mew 3 with me! She wouldn't break a promise like that!"

"Princess'll be just fine!" Papyrus enthused, as Frisk nodded their agreement. "After all, she's been hanging around ME for three months! Some of my greatness HAS to have rubbed off on her by now! Right, Sans? …Sans?"

Sans wasn't listening. Well, he was, but not really. His eyes were fixed on the receptionist desk, where a severe-looking couple had just arrived. The set of the man's mouth was grim, and he adjusted his glasses as the woman leaned forward, speaking to the receptionist urgently under her breath. The receptionist looked awkward, and as Sans watched, she gestured in their direction while speaking to the woman. The woman straightened up, and she and her husband turn in the direction of the monsters. The color drained from their faces as they took in the party.

Sans regarded them grimly. Maybe it was a good thing he never actually worked up the nerve to approach them the day he called them after all.

Across the hall, an elevator dinged. A woman in a white coat stepped into the lobby, her eyes on a clipboard in her hands. As she looked up, her eyes were automatically drawn to the monsters in fancy wear in the lobby. She rose her eyebrows, but deigned not to comment, looking down at her clipboard again.

"Dr. and Mr. Crown?" She called, and Sans watched his friends' heads snap up at the mention of the familiar last name.

The severe-looking couple drew forward, varying degrees of anxiousness on their faces.

"How is Aeris?" Dr. Crown asked, tucking her gray-streaked lock of hair behind her ear.

The woman in the white coat consulted her clipboard.

"Stable. But just in case, we'll be keeping her overnight for observation."

Dr. Crown frowned at that. "Surely that's not necessary. I can watch my own daughter, and I think you'll find I'm perfectly qualified—"

Sans began to get up from his chair, but the doctor shook her head at Aeris' mother.

"I understand your concern, Dr. Crown, but we have a strict policy here. Your daughter must stay overnight, and your status cannot change that."

' _You have no power here,_ ' Sans thought smugly in Dr. Crown's direction. Dr. Crown's lips pursed, obviously displeased, but she made no other comment.

Her husband, however, had yet to be convinced.

"This is ridiculous," he growled, running a hand through his thick hair. "Aeris' condition is unique. She has a rare disease that is very delicate. I doubt any of your doctors know how to—"

"We've been keeping her alive just fine without you, Mr. Crown," the doctor interrupted, and Sans almost grinned at the cool tone she used with him. "Now, we can stand here and argue the issue, but I promise you, nothing you say will change our policy. You can certainly try, if that suits you, or you can see your daughter before visiting hours are over."

The doctor raised her eyebrows at the couple. "I leave the choice to you."

It was clear by the look on Mr. Crown's face that he did not appreciate being spoken to in this manner. He opened his mouth to angrily retort, but Dr. Crown reached over, squeezing his forearm.

"Leave it alone, Clif," she urged him in a low voice. A stubborn look that was eerily familiar took over Mr. Crown's face, but he huffed and folded his arms, looking away. That seemed to be enough for the doctor, for she gave a nod and gestured for Aeris' parents to follow her. Sans watched as they trooped over to the elevator, pausing a moment for the doors to open before boarding it. The short skeleton watched the numbers above the elevator doors. The letter 'G' was currently lit, but as the elevator began to climb, the number '1' was lit, and then faded in favor of '2', and then '3'. The light stopped there.

"So…" Alphys gulped, adjusting her glasses. "Those were Aeris' parents, huh…?"

" _I don't like them,_ " Frisk signed with a frown. " _They seem mean._ "

"Frisk," Toriel reproved, but Sans could tell by the look on her face that she was having difficulty not agreeing out loud.

"No wonder Aeris ran away, huh?" Undyne noted, folding her arms with a huff. "Who wants to listen to someone growl at you like that all day?"

Sans thought about letting them know that they hadn't seen anything yet…but then thought better of it. Instead, he gained his feet and headed down the hall.

"Sans?" Papyrus called after his brother, "where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," Sans promised, pulling up his hood. "I'm just goin' for a walk."

"If you're looking for the cafeteria, it's the other way," Papyrus said, jerking his thumb in the opposite direction. Sans grinned to himself as he rounded the corner.

"Thanks, bro. I'll take a shortcut."

* * *

The hall was eerily empty when Sans arrived on the third floor. He supposed he should be grateful for that—it meant he didn't have to evade anyone, because he clearly didn't belong up here. Still, the silence was a little creepy, so Sans sped on his way, glancing around.

All the doors looked the same. He was just pondering how the hell he was supposed to find the room Aeris was in, but then a loud voice sounded from a room nearby.

"You _cannot_ be serious!"

' _Mr. Crown. Always a pleasure,_ ' Sans thought dryly, and he edged down the hall to where the voice was continuing what sounded like a very fervent lecture.

"—worried sick, young lady," Mr. Crown was ranting as Sans reached the correct door, "we were beginning to suspect the worst, and you show up _months_ later, perfectly fine, and you didn't even think to _call—_ "

"I am in a hospital bed, Father," Sans heard Aeris' voice, and it hurt him to hear how weak she sounded. "I am not what you would call 'fine'."

"Don't you _dare_ take that tone of voice with me," Mr. Crown barked, and Sans had to fight the urge to barge in and shield Aeris from her father's harsh words. "We've been going out of our minds to find you, and now we learn that you've been living with—with—"

Sans waited, but Mr. Crown seemed like he didn't have a bad enough word to describe Sans and his friends. " _Monsters!_ " He spat out eventually, and Sans snorted softly at how typical he sounded.

"They saved my life." Aeris's voice grew stronger, her conviction growing. Sans felt a rush of affection for her.

"They were keeping you as a pet!" Mr. Crown snarled. Sans felt his left eye socket flare in resentment, and he had to take a moment to calm himself. "I don't know what they planned on doing with you, whether they wanted the money, or if they were fattening you up for slaughter—"

"Do I _look_ like I ate enough to be succulent enough for that group of monsters?" Aeris grumbled. Sans heard an abrupt scuffle, and Dr. Crown shouted "Clifton!" There was a sound of flesh hitting flesh, and Sans froze, his teeth grinding together. Father or not, if that man had just _hit Aeris_ —

"You ungrateful brat," Mr. Crown growled, but the sound was muffled, as if he was speaking through his hand. Sans itched, wanting to push the door open to see what was going on, but he couldn't risk it without the chance of getting caught. He argued with himself, weighing the pros and cons of interrupting the conversation as Mr. Crown's tirade continued. "Your mother and I rushed all the way down here, in the middle of the night to come and get you, and we don't even get a thank you! If you think being sick will keep you from being punished when we get home, you have another thing coming, young lady! As soon as we leave tomorrow morning—"

"I am not leaving with you, Father."

The silence crackled, the tension heavy in the air, even from where Sans stood in the hallway. He couldn't take it. Steeling himself, he pushed the door just a little bit, praying that it did not creak. Luckily, it stayed silent, and he was able to hold it open enough to peer in with one eye socket.

Aeris was situated in the bed on the far side of the room. Sans stared at her profile, taking in the changes to her face, like how hollow her cheeks seemed, and the dark circles under her eyes. Sans knew, in his rational mind, that she looked terrible, but he supposed it was true what they said about rose-colored glasses: somehow, she was still radiant to him, even now. She sat up with the aid of the raised mattress, hands folded neatly in her lap. She had her eyes concentrated on them as her father stared down at her, as if she was something he had never seen before, standing perpendicular to her bed. His cheek was red, and Sans thought he could make out the shape of a hand print. Her mother sat in the chair next to her bedside, her back to the door. She, too, seemed to be staring at Aeris, but as for what kind of expression she was making, Sans could only guess.

Finally, Mr. Crown seemed to get his tongue unstuck.

"…What did you just say?" He asked, his tone threatening danger.

Sans watched as Aeris' eyes tightened, her fingers clenching together.

"I'm not leaving with you," she repeated herself, and Sans ached as he heard the waver in her voice. "When they release me tomorrow…I'm going back home with my friends."

Mr. Crown stared at her some more. Sans tensed up when he leaned over, and Dr. Crown shifted in his direction, her hand on his arm, as if she meant to restrain him. He ignored her, however, his furious gaze on his daughter, whose gaze was still averted to the hands in her lap.

"Aeris. You are _dying._ " The words hurt Sans, but Aeris didn't so much as flinch. "Those _monsters_ cannot help you. They cannot save you. Your only chance of survival is coming home with us, where you belong."

"We've been working nonstop in your absence, Aeris," her mother spoke next, and it was in a much more soothing tone than her father's. "We've been running tests, working around the clock…and we've managed to create a new drug that we think might finally work. It would've been finished earlier, but—"

" _Don't start,_ Helena!" Mr. Crown suddenly barked, wrenching himself from his wife's grip and glaring down at her. "You _know_ that batch wasn't my fault!"

Dr. Crown turned to face him, and Sans could see the sarcasm in her expression. "Oh, so I suppose it was a ghost that tainted the medication that killed those lab rats?"

"It was a slight miscalculation brought on by your misdiagnosis of the rats!" Mr. Crown shouted, and Sans saw Aeris grit her teeth.

"Stop it," she said quietly, but Sans very much doubted that either of her parents heard her.

"Well I don't know what you were expecting, Clifton! I'm a doctor, not a veterinarian!"

"Well excuse me for thinking rats might be a little easier, considering they're not as complex as humans! But apparently you're a one-trick pony who can't handle a basic challenge! My mistake!"

" _Stop it,_ " Aeris said again, louder this time. Her parents ignored her, but Sans saw the way her hands gripped the sheets in her lap.

"None of this would have happened if you were actually adequate at your job!" Dr. Crown shouted, jumping up from her chair so abruptly that it clattered to the floor behind her. "All the time you've spent behind the counter of your precious pill palace could've been dedicated to finding a cure for your own daughter! Ironic how it took her disappearing for you to actually do something useful!"

"Oh, because I'm sure your long hours of work were dedicated to helping!" Mr. Crown bellowed, spit flying from his mouth as he glared at his wife. "Don't act like you didn't always disappear to the hospital when Aeris was at her worst! You used work as an excuse to escape what was happening in your own home! What kind of mother are you?!"

"STOP IT!" Aeris screamed as Dr. Crown raised her hand, clearly intending to slap Mr. Crown. They jumped at the sudden cry, distracted from their shouting match, and shuffled forward in alarm when Aeris began to cough, the loud outburst clearly too much for her at the moment. Dr. Crown reached out to pat Aeris' back, but Aeris lurched away from her, hands clutched to her mouth as she coughed. Mr. Crown moved forward, intending to push a button on one of the machines next to Aeris' bed, but then she straightened up, the coughing ceasing abruptly. Aeris pulled her hands away from her mouth, sticky with blood, but it was her tears that Sans was most concerned about. She squeezed her hands and eyes shut, leaning forward, as if in pain.

"And you two _seriously_ wonder why I don't want to go home?" She questioned, her voice shrilly. "Listen to how you talk to each other! Do you really think I want to go back home to _that?_ Are you kidding me?!"

She coughed more, using the sleeve of her dressing gown to muffle the sound.

Dr. and Mr. Crown, it appeared, had nothing to say to that. They looked at each other, the anger not quite faded from their expressions, and then looked at their daughter, who had grabbed the box of moist towels from her bedside table and was now meticulously rubbing her hands clean of blood. Nobody spoke for a very long moment.

It was as Aeris was dropping the bloodied towels into a wastebasket at the side of her bed that Mr. Crown seemed to regain himself, scowling at her.

"Aeris. Look at me." She refused, but that didn't deter her father; he leaned down again, hands pressing into the foot of her bed, staring at her intently with his icy eyes, as if he intended to see right through her. "Are you telling me that you would rather die with strangers—with _monsters_ —than come home with your own family for a cure? Is that what you're saying?"

Slowly, Aeris rose her gaze to her father's, looking at him for the first time since Sans had started watching them. Her eyes were hard, steel clashing against ice.

"Yes," she said, slowly and deliberately so that he could catch every word, "that is what I'm saying."

Mr. Crown's expression tightened. Sans stared at it, not quite understanding why he looked like he'd been dealt a fatal blow. Sure, monsters weren't everyone's cup of tea, but was it really necessary for him to look like Aeris had betrayed him by choosing monsters over him?

"Helena," he said roughly, straightening up and folding his arms, " _do_ something."

Dr. Crown sat beside Aeris, gazing at her daughter, who had once again dropped her eyes to her lap. Despite her husband's impatient huffs, she took her time to speak.

"Aeris," she said, her voice surprisingly soft after all the shouting she had just done. When Aeris didn't look at her, Dr. Crown reached over, stroking her daughter's hair. Aeris' eyes closed at the contact. "Aeri," she said in an even softer tone, and Sans wondered if that was a nickname from Aeris' childhood. "Please, sweetheart. We just want to help you. We love you. Please come home."

Aeris' expression flickered. Doubt crossed her features, and Sans found himself clutching the side of the door, fighting with himself to break in, to interrupt a conversation that could only go one of two ways, and if Aeris changed her mind—if she chose to return with her parents—what would he do? What _could_ he do?

Aeris sighed quietly, turning to look at her mother. Sans froze in place—if Aeris turned her head four inches to the left, she would spot him eavesdropping. He almost pulled back, but then, the movement of the door would most definitely distract her, wouldn't it? The skeleton could only stay very, very still, watching as Aeris addressed her mother.

"…I love you and Dad, too, Mom," she said quietly, and Sans registered the new, more affectionate names for her parents, "but I'm tired. I'm so sick of being treated like a broken object that just needs glue, and it'll be good as new."

The sad smile that stretched across Aeris' lips was heartbreaking. "I'm not a broken thing, Mom. I'm a person. And I'm going to die. Stop trying to fix it."

Dr. Crown dropped her gaze this time, but Aeris lowered her head, locking gazes with her mother, that same sad smile still on her face as she reached out and gave her mother's hand a squeeze.

"Please. Stop trying to 'fix' me," she requested, eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

Dr. Crown buried her face in her hands and began to sob. As if their roles were reversed, Aeris reached forward and embraced her, resting her head on top of her mother's and closing her eyes. Mr. Crown didn't move over to join them. He stood at the foot of the bed, stock still, arms folded as he stared out the window. But something about the way his frame trembled told Sans that he wasn't as composed as he was pretending to be.

Sans heard the approaching footsteps just in time. He let the door swing shut, regardless of the consequences, and quickly rounded the corner, pausing as the footsteps stopped at Aeris' door.

"Visiting hours are over," said the voice of the doctor from earlier. "It's time to say goodnight."

Taking his cue, the skeleton teleported back to the ground floor. He slumped down in the hallway, feeling awful.

Was it selfish of him to feel pleased, that Aeris was choosing them, him—and consequently, death—over returning with her parents, to where they might have a cure? Of course it was. It was unspeakably selfish. Aeris was old enough and of sound mind to make her own decisions, of course, but Sans wasn't too far gone to know that her priorities were a little skewed. After all, she wanted to live, didn't she? She'd been fighting off Death all this time, clinging to her life with a dogged determination Sans had only ever seen in Frisk. Wasn't it therefore counterproductive for her to choose to remain with people who couldn't help her? Healing magic could only do so much, and Sans had proven tonight that he didn't even know the basics of reviving a dying human. If Aeris wanted to live, she was making a mistake.

But was there anything anyone could say that would convince her?

Sans sighed to himself. If there was anyone, it might be him. Aeris might not feel about him the way he felt for her, but she had proven on more than one occasion that his opinion meant something to her. So if he told her to go home—if he told her to leave him—would she listen?

And if she did…would Sans be able to live with his choice after she was gone?

Welp. There was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

Pushing himself to his feet with a grunt, Sans got to his feet, heading back to the lobby to rejoin the monster party.

"SANS!" Papyrus cried as soon as the short skeleton came into view, "where have you _been?!_ "

Before Sans could come up with a joke about the cafeteria being a waste of time because he didn't have a stomach, the elevator dinged, and the Crowns stepped out. Dr. Crown seemed ready to leave, still brushing tears away from her face as she headed for the door, but Mr. Crown apparently had other plans. To Sans' surprise, he began to march over to them, his eyes rimmed red and full of hate.

"Oh dear," Asgore sighed, and he stood up to greet Mr. Crown. "Can we—"

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to," Mr. Crown cut him off, stopping a safe distance away and bearing his teeth. "You may have my daughter brainwashed, but I know what kind of creatures you are. I've known it since I was eight years old: you're vicious, evil, child-murdering _monsters._ "

Sans was forcibly reminded of the time Aeris had woken up in Toriel's bed and seen them all. She had called them monsters, too, but she had been terrified. It was probably a learned behavior, considering her father's prejudice.

And still, Sans couldn't find it in himself to contradict Mr. Crown. Not in his case, anyway. Still…what had happened in Mr. Crown's youth to turn him against monsters so early in life…?

"Clifton!"

Now Dr. Crown was hurrying forward, looking harried. "We owe them our daughter's life," she hissed at Mr. Crown, gripping his arm. "Let's go. Now."

Mr. Crown wrenched his arm from his wife's grip, glaring at her.

"I don't care what they've done, they won't fool me! My brother didn't go missing on that mountain because he 'got lost'! He was murdered!"

And Mr. Crown glared right at Sans, his gaze pinning the short skeleton, as if he could see every single one of his past sins. His icy eyes burned, and abruptly, Sans saw him as a child, white-faced and furious, staring up at Mt. Ebott, waiting for a brother that wouldn't come home.

Because he was already dead.

" _Their_ kind killed him. I know it," Mr. Crown growled, nothing but certainty and fury in his voice.

"Clifton, you are _making a scene_ ," Dr. Crown hissed, and Sans watched as her nails dug into her husband's arm. "Go wait in the car. _Now._ "

Mr. Crown continued to glare at them—at Sans—for one more tense moment, and then he turned, stomping out of the hospital lobby. Dr. Crown sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"I'm sorry," she apologized stiffly to Asgore. "When he was a child, his twin brother went missing on Mt. Ebott. He hasn't been the same since."

A chill went through Sans' spine. Aeris' voice seemed to whisper to him from very far away:

" _It must have been someone else's brother._ "

That child he killed with the ice blue eyes…they were the exact same shade as Mr. Crown's.

No wonder he had confused him for Alexei: same genes.

A hand gripped Sans' shoulder. He pulled himself out of his own head long enough to look up at Papyrus, who was regarding him in concern. Abruptly, the short skeleton realized that he was shaking.

As he worked to master himself, he watched as Dr. Crown retrieved a card from her purse and handed it to Asgore.

"My phone number's on there," she instructed, and Sans was surprised to find that tears were beginning to glint in her eyes once again. "If Aeris—" she paused, swallowed, and tried again. "If something…happens…please, call me. I want to know, at least, when it—when it happens…"

Asgore nodded solemnly, tucking the card into his breast pocket. That was all Dr. Crown seemed to need. She nodded once, then turned on her heel, walking with her head held high, despite the fact that tears were currently rolling down her cheeks. Sans couldn't imagine how hard this must be for her—to leave the fate of her dying daughter, her only child left, in the hands of strangers. And not even just strangers: monster strangers.

Sans' guilt overflowed, threatening to drown him. He was starting to go numb again as the receptionist tip-toed her way over.

"Um…visiting hours are over," she reported, looking more than uncomfortable as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, as if preparing to run. "You'll have to leave for tonight."

"Of course," Asgore replied courteously, earning a surprised look from the receptionist. He beckoned to them all, and everyone rose to their feet and followed him out of the hospital.

"Man," Undyne growled as they exited the automatic doors, grinding her knuckles into her free palm once again. "If that guy wasn't Aeris' dad, I would've beat him up for saying that crap to us!"

"He was distraught," Toriel reasoned, though she looked bothered by something. "Losing his brother so young, and now, his daughter, too…"

"That's not an excuse to take it out on us!"

"I'm just sad we didn't get to see Princess before we left," Papyrus said, his head drooping sadly. "I hope she's okay…all alone in that hospital room…all night…"

"S-she'll be fine!" Alphys asserted, patting Papyrus' arm. "Aeris is a tough girl! She'll be all right? Right, Sans? …Sans?"

But Sans was busy teleporting to a different location, and did not reply.

* * *

For the second time that night, the door to Aeris' hospital room creaked open, and Sans peered inside, trying not to look too shifty. Moonlight from the open window curtains fell across Aeris' bed, illuminating her in the darkness. She appeared to be asleep.

Sans crept inside, eyeing all the machinery next to Aeris' bed. He knew how human hospitals worked, in theory, but he had never been inside of one. He would've found the experience educational, if the situation wasn't so bleak. Still, he couldn't help but inspect the machines curiously as he approached, wondering what each of them did, especially the beeping one, because man, that noise could grate after a while.

The short skeleton stopped at Aeris' bedside. She looked much the same as she did the night he found her—dark hair in wild tangles, pale skin stretched too tightly over her bones. He just realized that someone must have cleaned the blood off of her, and for that he was grateful, because looking at her like this was already painful enough. Her hands were clasped neatly over her stomach, and she breathed too slowly. Sans still hadn't gotten used to how still she was when she slept, and after tonight's scare, it was ten times worse. Shaking, he lifted two bony fingers, pressing them into Aeris' neck. Her pulse was there, beating faintly, but it was there. The relief he felt at this revelation was minimal.

"What're you doing?"

He jumped. Aeris slowly opened her eyes, peering over at him, looking exhausted. Still, she smiled.

"There's a machine for that, you know," she informed him, pointing at the beeping machine. Sans noticed that the frequency of the beeps had suddenly picked up.

"Oh, is that what that does?" Sans eyed the machine with a slight frown. "I thought it was just here to annoy me."

Aeris laughed weakly at that. "I thought visiting hours were over," she remarked, closing her eyes again, as if she meant to sleep.

"They are," Sans admitted, shifting a little uncomfortably. "I just wanted to see you before I went home. …I can go now, since you look so _bone_ tired."

The joke fell flatter than usual because his heart wasn't in it. Eyes still closed, Aeris moved her hand over to Sans, silently searching. Sans obliged, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. Aeris' lips curved into a smile. But Sans was distracted from it by the sudden glint that came from under her free hand.

"Whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing to the shiny thing when Aeris opened her eyes again. She glanced down, lifting the shiny thing. It turned out to be a silver locket. Aeris stared at it as she spoke.

"It's something my parents gave me after my brother died. His picture's in it. This way, I always carry him with me." Her hand closed around the locket, holding it to her heart and closing her eyes again. "I left it behind when I left home. I always regretted it…but my mom brought it to me."

"That was nice," Sans commented. Something about his tone made Aeris look at him. A wry smile stretched across her lips, speculation in her gaze. Sans never though he'd be so happy to see that look on her.

"You don't sound convinced," she teased. Her smile faded too soon. "I suppose you already know what they're like."

"Yeah." Sans gave a shrug. "And I was listening in earlier."

Shock flitted across Aeris' face, promptly replaced with disapproval.

"You know eavesdroppers don't hear good things about themselves," she warned in a dire tone. She sighed and looked away. "Like how my dad was talking about you all. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be," Sans said, his grin now strained, and his hand reflexively closed around Aeris', as if he was afraid she'd pull it away very soon. "He wasn't wrong. Not about me, at least."

This made Aeris frown the way she always did when Sans began to deprecate himself.

"Sans—" She began, but he cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me your father had a twin?"

Aeris blinked in surprise, not expecting this question, apparently.

"Does he?"

"You didn't know?"

She shook her head, turning to stare out the window. Her eyes seemed to absorb the glow of the moon and reflect it back, making them shine more than normal.

"Dad doesn't talk about himself. Well, he likes talking about his accomplishments," she amended, wrinkling her nose, "but not about himself, personally. I had no idea I have an uncle."

Sans grit his teeth. "Had," he corrected heavily, "he's dead."

Aeris paused. Sans waited until she turned back to look at him. Her brow was furrowed.

"…Do I want to know how you know this?" She asked, her expression clearly stating that she sensed doom. Sans felt horrible, wishing he could put this off—she was in a _hospital bed_ , for god's sake—but if he pushed it off until later, wasn't it tempting fate, assuming that Aeris was going to be around long enough to see 'later'? No, he had to do this now. He had to get everything off his chest.

Everything.

"That kid I mistook for Alex," he began, forcing the words through his teeth, "I'm pretty sure he was your dad's brother. I'm responsible for your uncle's death."

He watched Aeris take this in, her lips pursing as she stared at him.

"Pretty sure?" She questioned, and Sans sighed. He knew she was going to say that.

"I don't know for sure," he admitted grudgingly, "but it can't just be coincidence that the kid looked just like Alex and that your dad's brother happened to disappear when he dared to wander up Mt. Ebott. The chances of it being a coincidence are really low."

Aeris was quiet, and Sans could practically hear the gears in her mind turning as she processed this. The seconds ticked by.

"…Does that mean you're as old as my dad?" She asked, surprising Sans. He gave her a funny look as he shrugged.

"Dunno. Could be. Time moves differently in the Underground," he admitted, not quite sure himself. He knew how old he was in Underground years, but up here…who knows?

Aeris frowned at this. "Hmm. I could be dating an old man," she reflected quietly. The strange comment made Sans laugh a little, though he was beginning to wonder how many drugs the hospital had put Aeris on.

"I think you're focusing on the wrong things, here, Princess," he remarked, sobering. "Don't you care that your uncle is dead because of me?"

She looked up, locking gazes with him. Sans had no idea was she was thinking now, and he blamed the way her eyes seemed to be reflecting moonlight tonight—he couldn't see anything past that glow.

"…Not really," she answered at last, and Sans stared at her, dumbstruck. Her brow furrowed at his expression. "I mean, I care in the sense that a child died because of you." She closed her eyes briefly, as if to send a quick prayer for that child. "But in the sense that a family member that I've never met is dead because of you? That'd be like being mad at that one guy that I never met who fatally stabbed my nana in a bar fight a year before I was born. I can be mad about the idea in general, but to be personally invested—"

"Wait," Sans made her pause, grinning despite himself. "You're telling me you had a grandma who died in a bar fight?"

Aeris' smile was sudden and dazzling. "My nana was apparently really hardcore."

"Damn. Remind me to keep you away from the cookware from now on."

"Why? You think I'll suddenly become dangerous? But didn't you think it was…" Aeris paused dramatically, her grin widening, " _knife_ to meet me?"

"…Oh my god," Sans said, shaking with the effort to hold in his laughter, " _Aeris._ "

"Or was your judgement of my character just a _stab_ in the dark?" Aeris rolled out another one, and she mimed hitting a drum set and cymbal with accompanying sound effects.

Sans lost it. Clutching his non-existent stomach, he bent over, nearly crying with laughter. It was official: sleepy Aeris was a danger to his title as pun master. And he didn't mind one bit.

"Oh my god," he choked out again, trying to regain his breath as he brushed mirthful tears from his cheekbones, "I love you so much."

The beeping machine sped up again. Sans gave it a curious glance, wondering what its problem was, before he remembered that it was supposed to be monitoring Aeris' heartbeat. He looked over at her, surprised to find her blushing. She was staring at him with wide eyes, her lips slightly parted, as if she meant to speak, but forgot the words before they could leave her lips.

"…What did you just say…?" She asked after a moment, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Sans regarded her in confusion. What did he say? Not much—he was too busy laughing, wasn't he? And he was trying to remember how to breathe, because she was killing him with her devastating puns, and then…and then…

Heat flooded the skeleton's skull. _Shit._

"…Oh. Heh," he laughed, though the situation wasn't funny, "d-did I say that out loud this time…?"

Aeris' eyes grew impossibly wider. Sans cursed to himself again when he realized the last two words of his sentence were way too telling. What was it about her that always made him trip over his own semi-existent tongue?

"How—" Aeris' voice cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "How long have you been wanting to say that to me…?"

Oh god. He screwed up. He screwed up bad. What he wouldn't give for his damn time machine to be working right now, or even to have a reset, _anything_ that would take this moment back would be fine with him.

Certain that his skull was completely blue now, Sans dropped his gaze to his feet, letting out a sigh. As much as he wished it, nothing could turn back time for him now. He'd been facing his mistakes head-on ever since they escaped the Underground. This time couldn't be any different.

"…A while," he admitted, unsure of the exact date and time it actually happened, only remembering the night he'd finally realized it. A night that seemed like it was forever ago, with everything that had happened in between…

Warm skin brushed Sans' face, resting on his cheekbone. Funny—even if he had his eye sockets closed, he'd be able to tell by now that it was Aeris touching him. Like falling in love with her, he had become so attuned to her without even realizing it. Her power was frightening.

"Sans," she said softly, her breath brushing his face next. Sans looked up, startled to find her right there, in front of him. She was so close the he could count all her freckles, though the warm blush that heated her cheeks made it a little difficult. Despite her embarrassment, her eyes were focused right on him. Determined. "I—"

The door suddenly opened, making the both of them jump. As Aeris coughed, Sans turned around, contemplating throwing a bone at whoever dared to interrupt at such a crucial moment.

It was Dante. He looked at them, blinking in astonishment before a wry looked crossed his face.

"You know, visiting hours are over," he chided, though the way he grinned made him more like a conspirator than a scolder. Somehow, Sans couldn't find it in himself to hate him.

"I was just leaving," he assured Dante before turning back to Aeris. She had her hands pressed over her face, her gaze averted. Grinning at the sight, Sans tugged one of her hands away from her face, pressing his teeth to her cheek for a skeleton's kiss. Aeris blushed deeper, and the beeping monitor next to her sped up.

"We'll come and get you tomorrow," Sans assured her, brushing his hand against her cheek. She caught his wrist, pressing her lips to his carpal bones. Now it was Sans' turn to blush, and Aeris smiled a little smile, glancing at him from underneath her eyelashes.

"Don't be long," she requested. Wordless, Sans could only nod.

"I'll walk you out," Dante prompted, and Sans reluctantly let his hand fall away from Aeris.

"Sweet dreams, Pun Princess," he bade, giving her a wink. The grin Aeris gave him was almost guilty.

As he was walking out, Sans caught the look on Dante's face. He didn't say anything until they were walking away from Aeris' room, and Dante led him to a flight of stairs so they could avoid being seen by the rest of the hospital staff.

"So," Sans began conversationally, glancing up at the nurse, "we're an odd couple, huh?"

Dante grinned at that. "You think so? I think you're sweet," he said. Sans searched the man's face for any trace of sarcasm…but found none. How strange.

"Really? A human and a skeleton monster? That doesn't freak you out?" He wanted to check, watching Dante's face carefully. The question made the nurse frown.

"Well…it did at first. A little." He gave Sans an apologetic look. "But that's because I was afraid of you guys."

Sans frowned at that. For the life of him, that was one thing about humans he never understood.

"Why? We've never done anything to make you fear us," he pointed out, the old bitterness inside him creeping into his tone. "You all choose to be afraid of us, and I never got why that was."

Dante gave an easy shrug. "Well, it's easy to fear what we don't understand, isn't it?"

He hopped the last couple of steps down the second flight of stairs they were on, hands in his pockets as he stared into space, waiting for Sans to catch up. "But you're right. We have no reason to be afraid. And after tonight…after seeing how much you love Miss Crown…"

Dante turned to Sans with a grin. "…Well, if a monster can love a human that much, then you all can't be all bad, can you?"

Sans paused on the last step, staring at the nurse. Such simple, honest reasoning…Sans didn't know whether to call him foolish or optimistic. He chose the latter.

"Thanks for noticing," he said, his tone a little dry, though he smiled. Dante's grin widened in response, and they continued their trek down the stairs in silence for a moment.

"Dante."

"Yeah?"

"Aeris…she's going to die soon, isn't she?"

Dante faltered, nearly tripping down the stairs. He turned a strained gaze onto Sans, who had paused as well, watching him.

" _Dios mio._ You don't beat around the bush, do you?" He asked, ruffling his dark hair. Sans said nothing, and merely waited, grim. Dante sighed, scuffing his shoes on the stair he stood on. "…It looks that way. We've never seen a disease like this—and certainly not one as aggressive as this one—but looking at all the tests, it's a miracle she didn't die years ago. It's like she's been keeping herself alive through sheer willpower."

But of course, Sans thought, grimly amused. Human determination wasn't something to be messed with.

"But yes. She will die soon," Dante admitted, his dark gaze saddening. "Could be days. Could be hours…" He trailed away, letting Sans absorb that. And then he did something Sans hadn't been expecting at all: he reached out and patted the skeleton's shoulder. "I don't tell you this to make you sad, _cabron._ I tell you this to help you prepare yourself. Because, when it hits you, you're going to need those friends of yours from earlier to help you back up."

Sans thought of Toriel, how she would cry for days when Aeris was gone. And Frisk…it had been so good for them to have another human friend. Aeris dying would take that away from them, too. No more piano lessons for Undyne. No more Kissy Kissy Mew Mew parties for Alphys. No more garden help for Asgore. Papyrus wouldn't have anyone around who enjoyed his spaghetti as much as Aeris did. And Sans…Sans would…

Sans hitched on a grin, looking up at Dante. "Thanks for the honesty, buddy. …You know, if you like puns…this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

Dante looked bemused for a moment, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't know about the puns," he admitted, slowly grinning, "but the friendship part sounds good."

* * *

 **A/N : Dante is a precious cinnamon roll, and I'm so glad he's in my life now. Also, AERIS AND SANS ARE TOO CUTE, THEY'RE KILLING ME, AHHH.**

 **Hope you enjoyed~**

 **~Reyna**


	20. Chapter Twenty: Inferno

**A/N: ...Um. *Ahem* I _think_ I'm safe with this chapter, since it's not exactly explicit...but, uh, just in case, here's a warning:**

 **ATTENTION: ANYONE WHO IS SEX-REPULSED, HAS INTIMACY ISSUES, DOESN'T APPROVE OF SANS BEING TEASED, OR IS JUST SHY _REALLY SHOULD NOT READ PAST THE POINT WHERE SANS LEAVES THE CLIFF._ Just so you don't miss anything crucial, here's a safe line for you to keep reading at: "They shared a few more jabs and bad puns before lapsing into silence."**

 **The rest of you sinners, enjoy!**

* * *

"This is completely unnecessary."

"Hospital policy, Miss Crown."

"If you say that one more time, Dante, I swear to god—"

"Get in the wheelchair, Princess," Sans interjected before Aeris could get too volatile. He grinned lazily at the glare she shot him. "The sooner you sit down, the sooner we can leave."

Aeris huffed, her arms folded, lips poking out in a pout.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking out on my own," she stubbornly maintained, standing proud and tall…and apparently disregarding the fact that she was leaning against the bed for support. Dante raised his eyebrows at Sans, who snickered into his hoodie.

"All right," Dante allowed eventually when it became clear that Aeris was not about to get in the wheelchair of her own free will. "I'll make you a deal, Miss Crown—if you can walk from there to where Sans is standing, you can walk out of the hospital on your own."

Aeris eyed him, as if she sensed a trick, but Dante just smiled. Aeris smirked back, overconfident.

"Easy," she claimed, pushing away from the bed. She took a moment, testing her balance. Sans watched, hiding his apprehension as she took a step forward. When she didn't so much as wobble, she smiled and began to stride forward at her normal pace. "See? I'm perfectly f—whoa!"

She teetered dangerously. Sans reacted automatically, his left eye socket flaring with blue light. He flicked his wrist at Aeris, and suddenly, her soul was visible, azure in color. He tugged it back, and Aeris stood straight, her eyes wide and arms out as her body moved without her permission. Sans almost smirked at the bewildered look on her face...but then he noticed the crack that was still present in her soul, deeper than ever. Suddenly, nothing was funny.

He put her soul back, and Aeris frowned at him.

"I had it," she insisted as he strode forward. He could only shrug before taking one of her hands.

"Humor me," he requested. Aeris stared at him, brows furrowing as she noted the change on his face. With a long-suffering sigh, she nodded, and allowed Sans to lead her to the wheelchair. She sat down, a martyr's grimace on her face, and Dante grabbed the handlebars, pushing her out of the room.

"How'd you do that?" He asked Sans as he wheeled Aeris down the hall, towards the elevator. He flicked his own wrist for emphasis, casting an awed look at the skeleton. "I've never seen anything like that before."

Sans shrugged. "Magic."

"Don't expect an in-depth explanation past that," Aeris said dryly, her arms firmly folded as she pouted in the wheelchair, "you won't get it."

She looked so disgruntled that Sans couldn't help but snicker.

"What's with you humans? Magic _is_ an in-depth explanation," Sans insisted, pressing the button on the elevator for the ground floor. The elevators before them whirred, moving from floor to floor behind the metal doors. "It's a natural part of monsters, like blinking is for humans. You don't see us constantly asking you guys how you blink, do you?"

"Huh. I never thought of it that way before," Dante admitted as an elevator stopped on their floor. They boarded it and rode it down to the ground floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened and they entered the lobby, Aeris was bum-rushed.

"Aeris!" Several different voices called, and she disappeared in a flurry of hugs.

"We were so worried!" Toriel cried.

"Don't scare us like that, you punk!" Undyne threatened, squeezing maybe just a little too hard.

" _We're glad you're okay,_ " Frisk let go of her long enough to sign. Aeris made an exaggerated choking sound, and they all let go of her in a hurry. She sighed in apparent relief.

"Thanks, guys. But I'm fine. Really," she insisted, when everyone continued to give her worried looks. "You all didn't have to come and get me, you know."

"That's a joke, right?" Alphys questioned, looking at Aeris as if she had suddenly proclaimed that Mew Mew 2 was _way_ better than Mew Mew 1.

"What are friends for?" Papyrus questioned, looking both immensely relieved and personally offended. "You really think we'd let you check out of the hospital on your own?!"

"Of course we'd come to get you," Asgore said, nodding sagely. Aeris blushed, looking uncomfortable. Sans decided to throw her a bone.

"You'd better sign yourself out so we can stop clogging up the lobby, Princess," he noted lightly, eyeing the strange looks they were getting from the humans surrounding them. Dante moved aside, and Toriel happily took over pushing Aeris' wheelchair, steering it towards the receptionist's desk.

"I think it will be good for you to stay with me for a while, Aeris. That way, you will have your own bed, which will be better for you to sleep on, instead of Sans' and Papyrus' couch. And when we get home, I will make a big "get well soon" lunch for you—"

"I don't want a fuss, Toriel," Sans heard Aeris protest, but he wasn't sure if Toriel would actually heed her or not. He began to follow them, but a hand on his shoulder made him pause. Dante stood beside him, staring after Aeris. He was no longer smiling, and wore the look Sans recognized on a lot of the hospital staff here. He could only surmise it was a look they all got when they knew someone was about to pass away. The "Death-Is-Coming" look.

" _Cabron,_ " Dante spoke, and Sans recalled looking up the word the night before, learning that it was Spanish slang for "buddy". He waited, looking up at Dante as the nurse's dark gaze switched to him. "Remember what I said."

Sans' mind flashed to the peek at Aeris' soul earlier, the crack almost completely through Aeris' heart now. He gave Dante a solemn nod.

Sans couldn't forget even if he wanted to.

* * *

Aeris was exhausted. She tried to hide it, but Sans could tell.

Toriel had eventually agreed not to make a fuss, but her promise ended up being futile—everybody and their mother had heard the news of Aeris' near-death experience, and had come to Toriel's to witness that she was still alive for themselves. Burgerpants was dragged along with Bratty and Catty when they came to visit, a bunch of the Temmies dropped by, making Aeris sneeze (apparently she was allergic to Tems), and even Muffet made an appearance, delivering a basket of spider donuts free of charge (which Aeris didn't appreciate very much; she told Sans in confidence that no matter how nice she might be, Aeris just couldn't like Muffet, due to her fear of spiders). It was when Aaron dared to drop in, winking and flexing, that Sans drew the line, and the light that flared in his eye socket served as Toriel's cue to kick everyone out so Aeris could rest.

Sans stayed with Aeris as she napped. She was self-conscious about it at first, and kept fidgeting, until Sans reminded her that this wasn't the first time she'd slept in a room with him before.

"I know that," she had said, frowning at him, her lower lip jutting out. "But it's weird now, because you're not lying next to me."

"That an invitation, Princess?"

She had blushed scarlet, but her eyes were serious as she looked at him.

"What do you think?"

And so Sans had crawled into bed with her. Aeris settled against him, looking more comfortable than anyone should lying next to a pile of old bones, and was asleep within seconds. Sans soon followed her, and for once, he mercifully dreamed of nothing at all.

The sound of scratching woke him up. He lifted his head groggily, spotting Aeris sitting up a little apart from him. She had a notebook braced against her knees, and was writing something; her free hand kept his, as if to remind herself that he was still there. Sans grinned, finding that cute.

" _You_ grabbed _me_ when I moved," she quickly corrected his assumption when he brought it up to tease her. She glanced at him from her peripheral vision, looking smug. "I think it was you who needed reminding."

Sans turned blue at that, and promptly changed the subject.

"Whatcha writin'?"

Aeris shifted the notebook, the movement casual, but Sans couldn't help but notice that his view of it was now blocked.

"A letter to my parents," she replied, pressing the end of the pen to her lips with a frown. "Somehow, it's harder coming up with things to say in a letter than in person. Weird."

Sans felt suddenly strange, as if he were straying into forbidden territory. He tried to shake the feeling off as he said, "If you need to talk to them, why not just call 'em?"

"Because…" the light faded from Aeris' eyes, her corpse mask appearing. The sight of it hurt Sans more than usual; he attributed it to the fact that he had seen the real thing just yesterday. He squeezed her hand, desperate for the mask to fade away. Aeris blinked and looked at him, smiling wistfully. "It's nothing," she assured him, though he could hear the false note in her voice. "I just want them to…have something from me. To keep. A call is…kind of short-lived." Her smile grew a little more. "You know. Like—"

"Don't," the skeleton cut her off, growing serious. "Don't make that joke. It's not funny."

Sans abruptly understood the purpose of the letter—it was because Aeris wanted her parents to keep a piece of her, even after death. Even now, Aeris was thinking about her parents, and what her passing would mean to them. It was incredibly bittersweet.

Sans hated it.

Aeris bit her lip. "Just trying to lighten the mood," she explained, but she glanced away from him, looking guilty. "Sorry."

"Why?" The word was ripped from Sans before he could stop himself. Aeris turned back to him, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this?" Sans dropped his gaze to her hand, which suddenly looked so fragile, nearly as thin as his hands, skin that seemed insignificant stretched too tightly over her bones. "Your parents said that they could help you, but you didn't go with them. You're staying here. You're choosing to die."

Sans grit his teeth, squeezing his eye sockets shut against the tears he could feel building. He pressed Aeris' hand to his forehead, feeling as if the heat of her skin was fading with every passing second.

"Why would you do this? I thought you wanted to live. Why would you—"

"Sans."

The skeleton choked on his words, feeling Aeris' other hand slide over his cheekbone. He squeezed his eye sockets shut even tighter, but it was no good—tears still got through.

"I do want to live, Sans," Aeris assured him, her voice near him, low and soothing. "But I want to live my way. I want to be free to do what I want, make my own decisions. To be treated as a person. Not as my illness. And if I can't live that way…"

Aeris paused. Sans felt like she was steeling herself.

"Then I don't want to live at all," she said finally.

He looked up at her, suddenly furious.

"That's not true," he shot back, ignoring Aeris' flinch, her hand jerking away from his face. "You want to live no matter what. I _know_ you do. You're not staying here because you want to. You're staying here because of me."

Aeris hesitated. But Sans could see it—he could see right through her. Ironic how it took until the end of her life for him to finally be able to figure her out.

"Aeris, I'm _not_ worth this," he said forcefully, dropping her hand to let his skull fall in between his own. "I should've said something last night, but I was too busy being selfish. But I can't do this anymore. If keeping you here means that you have to die, then I don't want you here at all!"

"Sans—" Aeris began to protest.

"I'm serious!" His fingertips scraped against his skull, the tears overflowing now as he spiraled, descending into his tortured psyche. "Do you think this'll make me happy? Seeing you waste away without doing anything to stop it?! Do you seriously think that I'm _fine_ with this?!"

"It's not your—"

"I love you," Sans forced out for the second time, despite his instinct to grit his teeth against the words. "I love you, Aeris. I love you so much that it hurts."

Aeris said nothing. Sans squeezed his eye sockets shut again, and forced himself to keep going.

"And if you do this—if you force me to watch you die—you'll kill me, too."

Sans never knew his bones could rattle so hard until now. It hurt. It hurt so much. He thought he knew pain—watching Papyrus die, watching all his friends die, having to cut down a child he once called 'friend', and failing to do so more than once—that pain he was too familiar with. But this pain—this ache inside him that wouldn't subside no matter what he did or what he said—it was an entirely different pain. Like fire, it was everywhere, spreading throughout his body, torturing him, slowly burning him alive. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to quell it.

If this was what love felt like, he wished he'd known a long time ago. Then he would've known to turn his back and run far, far away from Aeris. Hindsight was a bitch.

Aeris' hands slid over his face again. He jerked back, but she followed, her thumbs stroking his wet cheekbones.

"I'm sorry, Sans." Her voice was full of heartache. "I never expected this to happen. I never meant for it to. I never wanted to hurt you. And I'm so, so sorry."

He waited. Aeris said nothing else, though the sniff she gave suggested she might be in tears as well. After a moment, he decided to prompt her.

"…Then will you go…? Will you try again with your parents…?"

Sans suspected that he knew the answer before she gave it. Sure enough…

"No."

Sans breathed deep, trying to make peace with the fact that Aeris was handing him his own death sentence. It didn't work very well.

"Aeris—" He began, opening his eye sockets and looking up at her. But she merely pressed her fingers under his jaw to shut it. The pressure under his jaw was a lot weaker than it used to be. That hurt him, too.

"Stop it," she requested, regarding him with her sad, silver eyes. "Stop treating this like my deathbed."

Sans scowled. "It _is_ your deathbed," he pointed out, jerking away from her touch to say so. "If you choose to stay here, Aeris, you're choosing death."

"There is no 'if', Sans," Aeris told him, and he expected her to get angry, but she just closed her eyes, like she was tired. "My choice has already been made. And it isn't death."

She opened her eyes again, pinning him with her gaze.

"It's you."

Sans stared at her, hating every single bit of this situation. He couldn't bear this. He couldn't watch her die.

He got to his feet. Hurt flashed across Aeris' face, but he ignored it as best as he could.

"Are you leaving?"

Sans stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep Aeris from noticing that they had balled up into fists. "I'll be back later," he promised, turning his back on her. "I just…need some air."

Silence passed between them for a tense minute.

"…I understand," Aeris said, and he was impressed with how normal she almost sounded. Almost. "I'll see you later, then."

Sans nodded, still not daring to look at her, and headed for the door. It was only as he was closing it behind him that he dared to look at her. She had picked up her notebook and was writing again, her eyes rimmed with red.

Sans shut the door.

He knew without looking that Toriel, Papyrus and Frisk knew there was something wrong with him, but he didn't stick around for them to ask invasive questions. He was out the door and teleporting away before any one of them could finish asking what was wrong.

Sans knew where he was going without even thinking about it. A second later, he was standing on the cliff that overlooked the ocean. The sun was just beginning to set, painting the sky orange, red and yellow. He sank down onto the outcropping of the cliff, eye sockets on the horizon, and sulked.

He really shouldn't have left like that. Didn't Dante say that Aeris didn't have long to live? So why was he out here, wasting time brooding when he could be spending what was left of her life with her?

Sans shook his head. But he couldn't stay there with her anymore. Watching her tire so easily, look so heartbroken, so defeated…he hated it. It wasn't like Aeris at all. He didn't want to see her like that.

Then again, he didn't have a choice, did he? It wasn't like Aeris was going to get better. And even if she did, it would only be for a short time before she inevitably got worse. Sans now knew better than to hope she would get better on her own—as usual, he had learned that lesson the hard way. And now he had failed to convince her to return home, where there was hope for a cure. He felt…he felt so…

' _Useless._ '

A chill went through him at the word. As self-deprecating as he was, he avoided using that word, even at his worst moments. He didn't use it when he watched Papyrus get cut down in front of him. He didn't use it when he failed to stop the world from ending. The only time he really remembered using it was the first time he'd failed to fix the time machine.

And that first time had cost him Gaster.

Sans' hands dug into the dirt around him. Nearly all of the snow had melted now, giving way to the coming of spring. The death of winter always made Sans nostalgic for Snowdin, but this year, it felt even heavier, the weight of loss pressing down on him. Aeris had expressed to him the desire to see the first bloom of spring here…but it looked like that was impossible now. If only he could hurry the season, bring spring faster so that Aeris didn't have to die amongst a world of barren trees…

Tears plopped into Sans' lap. If only he could stop this from happening. If only he could've convinced Aeris to change her mind. If only he hadn't fallen in love with her.

If only, if only, if only.

Sans buried his head in his hands, a horrible cry of grief wrenching from him. No one was here to watch him, but even so, he struggled against himself to let it out, to release the tension, to finally let go of this pain he was holding inside himself, desperate for some sort of relief. His bones rattled as he shivered, rocking back and forward as he cried. He sat there for a long time, wallowing in his pain. The day cooled, the night turning chilly, and abruptly the moon was out, shining down on him, as if to provide a spotlight for his suffering. He sniffled, glaring up at it. He was already in enough pain—did the moon have to exasperate it by being the same color as Aeris' eyes? Was the universe out to get him?

Dragging in harsh, ragged breaths, the skeleton got to his feet. He dried the tears from his face, shot another offended look at the moon, and then turned his back on it, beginning his slow trudge home. He couldn't go back to Toriel's. He couldn't face Aeris. Not now.

He would just have to pray that she held on long enough for him to see her tomorrow.

* * *

(DANGER! DO NOT READ AT THIS PART IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THINGS MENTIONED IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTE ABOVE!)

Sans slept fitfully. He couldn't get comfortable—without Aeris, his bed seemed far too big now, and he tossed and turned, but sleep seemed to only want his company for short periods of time.

Groaning, the short skeleton sat up, rubbing at his eye sockets. It looked like he wouldn't be getting any kind of rest at all tonight. Served him right, he supposed—his guilty conscience was torturing him for not looking in on Aeris before he headed home.

Sans was just considering going downstairs and pretending to watch T.V. when a quiet tapping sounded at his door. He paused, staring at his door. When it didn't sound again right away, he scratched the top of his skull. Did he imagine it? Must have. There's no way Papyrus would be up this late—

The tapping sounded again. Now Sans frowned. That was Papyrus checking on him. Again, his guilt swelled, this time because he had ignored his brother earlier when the tall skeleton had looked in on him, wanting to make sure he was all right. He really shouldn't have blown him off like that—now it seemed that his brother couldn't sleep, because he was too worried.

With a grunt, Sans got up from his bed, moving around the treadmill that he never used to reach the door.

"Go to sleep, Pap. I'm f—"

Sans choked on the end of his sentence. It wasn't Papyrus after all.

It was Aeris. She was in jeans and the nightshirt she wore to bed, and her lack of a jacket was troubling, since it had to be frigid outside. Sans stared at her. She stared back. The silence stretched between them.

"…Aeris," Sans eventually said, staring at her as if she was a marvel, "what…are you doing here…?"

Aeris blinked. The question seemed to confuse her.

"You didn't come back," she said blankly.

Sans didn't need to wonder how she'd gotten in—he'd given her a spare key when she started living with them. What he did wonder was why she looked so strange. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she had run here, though Sans couldn't see how she could've, with how weak she had become. And her eyes were too intense, burning with a fire that made Sans blush without fully comprehending why. What was with her? Was she running another fever?

"Are you—"

"I'm fine," she replied automatically, anticipating the question and cutting him off. Sans gave her a strange look.

"You don't look fine, Princess," he remarked, scratching the top of his skull. As he stared at her, Aeris leaned forward, her face inches from his. Sans froze in place at this unexpected gesture, his hand tightening on the doorknob. This close, Aeris seemed to crackle with a strange sort of energy; he felt it sting him just from being so close. Her eyes burned into him, but it was different from usual, like she wasn't seeing through him…but seeing all of him, every inch of him. Sans felt his blush deepen.

"I want to come in," she told him point-blank, making no illusion of asking permission. Unease growing in the pit of his non-existent stomach, Sans moved aside, staring at her as she entered the room.

She walked carefully, testing her balance with every foot she put forward, and Sans began to relax. Despite the way she was acting, it was still Aeris, still weak from her disease. It was both comforting and heartbreaking, comforting because he began to worry that it was someone else wearing Aeris' skin, and heartbreaking for obvious reasons. Sans shut the door as Aeris reached his bed. She sat down, her back straight, hands folded in her lap. She stared at him some more, the glow from his sleeping monitor throwing her face into partial shadow, washing out the color from her cheeks. She looked ghostly. Sans shivered.

"Everything all right?" He bothered to ask, dithering by the door. Aeris didn't answer. He regarded her warily, wondering if he was dreaming. "You're…you're kinda freakin' me out, Princess…"

Aeris watched him as he swallowed, beginning to sweat under her gaze. Seriously, what was with her tonight? Maybe she did have a fever…

Aeris blinked. He watched as she lifted a hand, patting the space next to her.

"Come here," she commanded, her voice soft.

Sans didn't move. He watched her instead, wanting to call her intense gaze on him eerie…but that wasn't the right word…

When he didn't do as she said, Aeris raised her hand, reaching for him. Her eyelids lowered, and Sans felt something inside himself tighten at the new look.

"Sans," she whispered, her voice low, crooning. Seductive. "Come here."

Sans felt his knees go weak. Stunned, almost powerless, he felt himself obey. He didn't realize he was shaking until he placed his hand in her waiting palm and saw it rattling.

Aeris didn't seem to mind. He watched, mesmerized as she lifted his hand to her face. She held his hand loosely, lightly caressing the back of it with her thumb. She placed lingering kisses on his phalanges, one by one, taking her time. Sans shivered, but she didn't stop there—next were his metacarpals, each individual one, and then a kiss to his carpal bones, sending thrills through his spine with every brush of her lips. She did it so slow, so agonizingly slow, it was like torture. Sans was having trouble breathing properly.

"Aeris," he whispered, his bones rattling. Aeris pressed his hand to her cheek, opening her eyes to look at him. This look was familiar—it was the look she sometimes got after she kissed him. Just for a moment, it burned in her eyes before she blinked and it was gone, replaced by a smile.

Not tonight. The look stayed tonight. She let it evolve in her eyes, growing from a slow burn to an inferno. And it burned through Sans, filling him with a different kind of fire than the one he had known, a fire that was so intense and so painful that it was almost pleasure—

"I'm scared."

The words left him before he could realize that they were his, before he even knew them to be true. But as he felt himself rattle under Aeris' touch, he knew why—they had never done this before. It had never come to this point before. Aeris was always fine with the kisses, the light caresses to her face, but now…

The words seemed to soften Aeris. The fire in her eyes cooled, only a little, and she reached out with her free hand, her fingertips stroking his cheekbone. Sans made an involuntary noise at the back of his throat as the familiar-yet-foreign touch sent something akin to electricity through him. Holy shit, what was she _doing_ to him…?

"Don't be," she whispered to him, leaning forward again. And Sans could do nothing but close his eye sockets as she pressed her lips to his teeth.

There was no build-up this time. The fireworks inside him exploded immediately, as if he had just stumbled into the display in progress. His breath hitched in his throat, the intensity catching him by surprise. He pulled back a little, but like before, Aeris followed, leaning further forward, her arms sliding around him, locking around his neck, cutting off his escape.

And despite his disconcertion, Sans felt himself reacting. His power spiked, the light in his eye socket flared, and he felt his tongue form almost of its own accord, slipping between his teeth, the tip tracing Aeris' bottom lip. It was the most he could do when it came to kissing Aeris back, and she accepted eagerly, parting her lips to give him access. Experimentally, he let his tongue explore the inside of her mouth, the sensation surprisingly exciting. Aeris sighed, her arms tightening around him, her own tongue flicking against his, as if challenging him to a duel. The thought almost made Sans laugh. Almost.

Her grip suddenly shifted to the back of his t-shirt. She tugged at it, the move insistent. Sans hesitated, but when she gave another pull, he gave in, pulling back from her. Trying not to feel too self-conscious—and failing immediately—he slipped out of his t-shirt, letting it fall to the floor. Aeris stared at him, studying his frame, and he began to sweat more profusely.

"Heh. Hope you weren't expecting anything more impressive," he said, trying to ignore the shakiness in his voice. "Don't have flesh, so it's not like I—"

"You're amazing," Aeris breathed, the fervor in her voice stirring something primal within Sans. He watched, his breathing heavy as she reached forward, her fingertips trailing down his rib cage. It was the first time she had ever directly touched him, with nothing in between her hands and his bones. Sans shuddered under her touch, gritting his teeth against the noises that threatened to break free. Aeris moved forward, sitting directly in front of him, her hands sliding across his rib cage, reaching the back, where her fingertips pressed into Sans' spine. He hissed, his breath rushing out in a short puff. Aeris leaned forward, pressed against him, her lips at the side of his skull. "You're absolutely incredible, Sans."

A groan slid between his teeth. Oh _god_. Wasn't enough that she already had him trembling? Did she really have to speak like that, say words that made his very soul shiver? Where was a mercy button when he needed it?

Aeris began to stroke his spine, her touch feather light, almost as if she was afraid she would break him if she pressed too hard. (She wasn't wrong, in a metaphorical sense). Her lips kissed the corner of his jaw, then his mandible, then lower, brushing against his vertebrae. And then, as if that wasn't enough, as if she didn't already have him panting, fighting to keep control of himself, he felt the tip of her tongue glide up his vertebrae, as if it was nothing but her thumb covered in frosting.

Sans' patellas failed him. He collapsed against Aeris, gripping at the fabric of her shirt, nearly tearing it with how tightly he held on, his bones rattling harder than ever.

" _S-shit_ ," he swore furiously, his face pressed into Aeris' shoulder. His breath was stuttering, panting, his face on fire, but the last part was nothing new, because he was already burning, flames lapping at every place Aeris touched. He half-expected her to laugh at him, to snicker at such an embarrassing reaction. She didn't. She merely pulled her head back to look at him. Sans met her gaze, now able to name the inferno raging in her eyes: desire.

Aeris slid back from him, taking one of his hands and giving it an impatient tug. Helpless, he obeyed once again, joining her on the bed. With a strength he wasn't aware she still possessed, she pushed him back onto the mattress. Sans froze as she straddled him, and she leaned over him, the hunger in her eyes doing forceful things to him, things he didn't dare put names to. He caught his breath again as she dipped down to kiss his clavicle, groaned when her tongue ran the length of it. But it was her teeth nipping at him that really got to him.

"Ah! A-ah...g-goddamn it, Aeris," he stuttered, covering his face with his hands as a fresh blush burned through him. This was so ethereal. He had never surrendered this type of control to anyone, and now that it was happening—

Aeris bit him again, and he cried out, his spine arching, his hands scrabbling against his skull, gripping the sheets, digging into Aeris' thighs. She gave no sign that this hurt her, apparently content to continue torturing him as her lips moved to tease the bones of his rib cage next.

' _Not fair._ ' The words stuttered through Sans' brain, only semi-coherent as he bit back moans incited from Aeris touching him anywhere and everywhere she wanted, sometimes stroking him painstakingly slow, sometimes her touch so light and quick that he wondered if it wasn't just his imagination. She whispered things to him as she touched him, things like how she liked seeing him like this, how enticing his blushes were, how she wanted to see him come undone even more. Each little confession made his arousal spike, and god, he made such _embarrassing sounds_ because of her, and the way she spoke to him, touched him, kissed him. It really wasn't fair. She was having too much fun, wresting this control from him, making him tremble underneath her, panting, blushing, moaning—

He choked back another groan as her hands reached the inside of his rib cage, stroking his spine. Suddenly, her free hand reached forward, landing on his jaw. She forced two fingers in between his teeth, hooking into his mouth. Sans stared at her, half in a haze, uncomprehending. What was she—

Her other hand slipped into his shorts, her thumb grazing his ischium.  
"Ahhn!" Sans yelped, jerking in surprise. His immediate instinct was to grind his teeth together— _fuck, he couldn't, her fingers were in his mouth._ Suddenly, her intention became very clear, and Sans stared at her, shocked to find out how diabolical she was in this regard. She returned his gaze, hovering over him, her eyes hooded, face crimson, breathing heavy. The look she was giving him sent an electric shock down his spine.

"I like how sensitive you are," she told him honestly, her voice quiet. "I want to hear you moan like that again…"

' _Fuck!_ ' Before Sans could reach up get her fingers out of his mouth, her fingertips brushed the length of his ischium, her nails tracing patterns into the bone, intensifying the sensation. His hands immediately dug into the sheets, ripping them with his tight grip.

"Ahhh," Sans moaned, unable to help it, and cursing Aeris for it, "haaah…haaah…" When she repeated the action, he jerked against her hand, a whine that was nearly high-pitched escaping him. And, as if he wasn't _making a goddamn fool of himself already_ , his tongue began to salivate, rivers of it dribbling down his mandible. Good god, what was _happening_ to him?

Aeris laughed a little this time, and his gaze shot to hers, glaring at her. She grinned a small grin, her tongue licking her upper lip.

"Forget your humerus," she teased, "I think I found your _real_ funny bone."

As she laughed at her own joke, Sans seized his opportunity. He lunged at her, flipping them over. A surprise breath whooshed from Aeris, but mercifully, she didn't start coughing. She just stared up in shock as Sans straddled her waist, grinning a downright evil grin as he trapped her wrists with one of his hands.

"Well well," he drawled, his free hand creeping up her shirt, "how the tables have turned."

Despite the situation, Aeris laughed. "I don't see any table in—"

Her comeback was interrupted as Sans stroked her skin. She bit her lip, and Sans began to worry that he was making her nervous, but when she closed her eyes and sighed, he figured it must be a good kind of nervous.

Abruptly, he realized he didn't know jack shit about her body. She had it easy with him—she had a skeleton, too, so relatively, she knew what to expect. But she was covered in skin, warm, soft, unfamiliar skin. He had no idea how to touch her in a way that would pay her back for all the humiliating groans she'd made him utter.

Aeris appeared to know this, too. She opened one eye, peering up at him smugly when he didn't move for a minute. "Having trouble?"

Sans blushed furiously. "I'm lulling you into a false sense of security," he bluffed, beginning to sweat again. Aeris laughed softly and wriggled her wrists free from his grasp. Sans sighed in defeat, preparing for his torture to continue…but then Aeris surprised him. She sat up, but she made no move to unseat him. Instead, her hands grabbed his arms, fingertips tracing down his ulnas. He shivered, watching cautiously as Aeris clasped his wrists, bringing his arms around her to rest at the small of her back. She raised a hand to rest on his shoulder, and tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck.

"Bite me here," she instructed as she pointed with her free hand, her face red, but eyes determined. Sans stared at her, slowly beginning to grin.

"You like being bitten?" He teased. She scowled at him, lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"Not hard. And don't kinkshame me," she ordered with a swat to his rib cage. Sans chuckled lowly, leaning forward.

"I'm just kidding. If anything, I'm relieved. Biting is something I can _definitely_ do."

And he did, cautiously pressing his teeth into the skin of her neck, mindful of how much pressure he used, afraid her skin would rip in half if he did too much. Aeris took a shuddering breath, and Sans could feel the heat from her face increase. He grinned to himself. _Now_ they were getting somewhere.

He bit down a little harder, deciding to test the boundaries now rather than later. Aeris made a low noise in her throat, her hands tightening on his shoulders. Sans paused, surprised at how much he liked that. Wow. No wonder she was having so much fun teasing him.

He carefully slid a hand under her shirt again, his fingertips tracing her skin carefully, marveling at how smooth and soft she was. Her panting seemed to increase the higher his hand went, so he kept inching up, higher and higher, until—

Aeris coughed. She jerked away from Sans, turning her head and pressing a hand to her mouth. Sans jumped off her, his hands hovering over her back, abruptly and painfully anxious.

"Aeris!" He cried, but she coughed only twice more before the fit passed. She took a deep breath and let it out, the sound vaguely annoyed.

"…Sorry," she apologized, reaching for the tissues Sans kept on his bedside table to clean herself up. "I think…I got too excited, and that triggered the coughing." She huffed and tossed the used tissues into a trash can she made Sans keep near his bed, despite the fact that there was a perfectly good trash tornado in the corner. "And I was so sure I could do this…"

Sans groaned, flopping back down onto his bed. He folded his hands behind his skull, eyeing Aeris from one eye socket. "So that's why you came over here tonight? To seduce me?"

Aeris turned to look at him, her face red. She grinned a little.

"Did it work?" She teased. Sans averted his gaze, feeling himself blush, recalling her touch all too clearly.

"God, yes," he grumbled. Aeris laughed and joined him, resting her head on his humerus, despite the fact that it couldn't be comfortable. Her fingers tip-toed over his sternum, making him groan again. "Mmfh. How the hell do you do that…?"

Aeris giggled again. "It's easy, since you're so sensitive," she teased, slipping her fingers through a groove in his rib cage to stroke it from the inside. Sans caught her wrist and pulled her hand away.

"Cool it, or you're sleeping on the couch," he warned, not quite serious, but not fully joking either. Seriously, if he had to endure any more of her teasing tonight, he'd unravel like a ball of yarn…or like some of Papyrus' overcooked spaghetti noodles.

Aeris met his gaze, her grin fading.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Sans snorted. Well, it was a little late to ask that question, wasn't it? Still, he could see that she was worried, and so he put her mind at ease.

"No, you're not making me uncomfortable. _Jamaican_ me crazy," he joked. Aeris stared at him…and then burst out laughing.

"What the hell?! We weren't even _talking_ about Jamaica!"

"You still laughed," Sans pointed out, frowning when Aeris began to cough again. She stopped soon enough, and resumed resting her head on Sans' arm. He moved his hand from behind his skull to rub her back, and she hummed in content.

"So you're fine with tonight?"

"'Fine' ain't the word, Princess." He looked down at her, warning in his gaze. "I'm gonna find some way to get you back for embarrassin' me like that."

Aeris grinned at the challenge. "Bring it on, you punny bonehead."

They shared a few more jabs and bad puns before lapsing into silence. Sans continued stroking her back, taking in the silence, a little surprised at the peace of the moment. He never knew that he could feel like that…never knew that Aeris could make him feel like that. Just another thing about her he'd miss when she died.

As if she sensed his thoughts turning to darkness, Aeris spoke.

"Sans."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Sans froze. Slowly, he turned to look at Aeris. She glanced at him shyly, her face burning. But her eyes were serious. She was serious. Against all odds, contrary to his belief…Aeris loved him, too.

The cruelty of the situation was not lost on Sans. He just chose to ignore it, hitching on a grin instead.

"About time you said somethin', Princess. I was gettin' worried." He gave her a wink. "Guess you had to try and _jump my bones_ first before you figured it out."

Aeris groaned, grinning in a grudging way. "Did you really have to make a boning joke?"

"It would've been a tragedy if I let the moment pass," he assured her gravely. He pressed his teeth to her forehead in a skeleton's kiss. "…But thank you. I love you, too."

Aeris closed her eyes and smiled. "I know."

* * *

 **A/N: I really should've named this chapter "Aeris is Nowhere Near as Innocent as You All Thought"...but whatever. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **~Reyna**


	21. Chapter Twenty-One: Goodbye

A/N: I should be planning lessons for my kids tomorrow, but OOPS LOOK WHAT HAPPENED. Enjoy the unexpected weekend chapter!

* * *

Sans awoke to the sounds of birds chirping once again. Today, he didn't mind the sound so much. He grumbled a little under his breath, rubbing his eye sockets with both hands. And then he realized he could move both his arms.

Odd. He was so sure that he had fallen asleep with Aeris wrapped around him…

The skeleton blinked his eye sockets open, rolling over. The other half of his bed was empty.

This made him sit up, waking up more rapidly. This wasn't the first time he had gone to sleep with Aeris in his bed and woken up to find her gone. She usually woke up before him, after all, and went downstairs to lie on the couch to complete the illusion that she had slept there all night for Papyrus' benefit.

But she was supposed to be staying at Toriel's last night, so Papyrus would be confused by her presence on the couch in the first place. So she couldn't have gone downstairs. Then did she go back to Toriel's so the goat lady wouldn't worry?

Sans snickered to himself for a moment as another thought came to him: it was more than likely that Aeris became super-embarrassed when she woke up, remembering all the things she did to Sans, and had decided to flee before he woke up. He wouldn't be surprised at all if that were the case. Still…it wouldn't hurt to check…

Sans reached for the phone on his bedside table, intending to text her to see where she'd gotten to. He jumped a little when the phone began to ring before he could pick it up, the display showing Aeris' name. Grinning a little, the skeleton picked up.

"Hey. Weird, I was just about to text you—"

"Sans?"

Sans paused. The voice on the other line was not Aeris'. It was Toriel's. And it was panicked.

Something inside of Sans plummeted, leaving him cold.

"What happened?" He asked, dreading the answer. He had imagined a million different ways this news would come to him, and this was one of the worst-case scenarios, because he wasn't there when it happened. It didn't matter that he didn't _want_ to watch Aeris die; he still felt like he had to _be_ there. And, apparently, he wasn't.

But Toriel surprised him.

"Is Aeris with you?" She asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. Sans stared blankly down at his mattress, not expecting this question. Why didn't Toriel know where Aeris was…?

"…She came over last night," he admitted slowly, getting up from his bed and leaving his room, heading out into the hallway. He paused, listening for a moment…but there was no telltale sign of rushing water from the bathroom. "…I don't think she's here anymore," he admitted.

He listened as Toriel relayed this information to someone else, trepidation beginning to weigh down on him. What was going on?

"I do not know where she is," Toriel admitted to him when she returned to the phone, and he could hear how worried this made her. "I checked on her just now to see if she wanted breakfast, but she was not there. The bed was made, and her cell phone was left on the blanket. I thought maybe she had gone out to see you—"

"Tori," Sans heard Asgore's voice in the background; he sounded grave. There was some sort of rustling, and Tori gave a gasp. There was a long pause, in which Sans began to sweat, his metaphorical nerves grated by the quiet.

Finally, Toriel spoke. "Sans. I think you had better come over here."

Sans had never run to Toriel's so fast in his life. It didn't even occur to him to teleport—that's how panicked he was.

He burst into Toriel's house, forgetting to knock.

"W-wha—" he panted, too winded to get the question out properly. Toriel, Asgore and Frisk were gathered in the living room. Toriel was on the phone speaking to someone, she and Frisk were clutching what looked like folded pieces of paper, and Asgore had a stack of them. He beckoned Sans forward, looking grim. His dread increasing, the skeleton approached.

"I found these in the top drawer of Aeris' bedside table," he said, shuffling through the stacked papers until he reached the last one. He plucked it out of the pile, handing it to Sans. "I believe this one is yours."

Sans stared down at the folded piece of paper, his name written across it in Aeris' handwriting. His bones beginning to rattle, he unfolded the piece of paper, revealing its true form: a letter. Sans grit his teeth, forcing himself to read it, even as dismay seeped into his bones, gravity adding pressure on him. The words were wobbly, as if Aeris' hand was shaking as she wrote…or maybe that was just because Sans' own hands were shaking.

 _Sans,_

 _I know I said it before, but I'll write it again here: it's really hard to know what to say in a letter. There's so much I want to tell you, but even if I manage to fit everything I can into a single letter, it still won't feel like enough._

 _Maybe I should just keep it short and sweet. Yeah. Let's give that a try._

 _First of all: I'm sorry. You'll never know how much, and it probably wouldn't help even if you did. Still, I want you to know that for everything I put you through, and everything I'm about to make you go through, I am truly sorry for. If I had the power, I'd take it all back just to save you the pain._

 _Second of all: I love you._

 _Never doubt this. No matter what happens, no matter what you might tell yourself, never question that I love you. Even after death, I will love you. With all of my heart._

 _I guess that's it. There's really nothing left to say._

 _Oh, one more thing: be happy. Please, please, please, be happy. Not for me. Not for anyone else. But for yourself. Be happy, Sans. You deserve it. You really do._

 _Goodbye._

 _I love you._

 _Aeris_

The letter ended after Aeris' signature. Still, Sans stared at the bottom of it, as if he expected more words to spring into existence if he stared hard enough.

That couldn't be it. _That could not be it._ Aeris couldn't just be… _gone_. She _couldn't_ be.

Sans looked up, meeting Asgore's gaze. The goat man merely nodded, as if he was expecting Sans to look like the world was ending.

"It seems…they are farewell letters," he remarked, and a sadness too old for his young face took over. "She must have written them last night."

In his mind's eye, Sans saw Aeris writing, looking focused as her pen scrawled across the page. She had said she was writing a letter to her parents...but was that a lie? No, it couldn't have been—he would've been able to tell if she was lying to him. But then, if it wasn't a lie, what did it mean…?

"Is there a letter for her parents in there?" Sans asked abruptly, an idea coming to him. Hope began to bloom within him, and though he tried to stifle it, it kept growing, like a weed. What if, when she finished the letter, Aeris realized she couldn't do it? What if she realized that a cure was really what she wanted? What if she decided that putting up with her parents was a small price to pay, if they could finally help her…?

Asgore appeared confused. He shuffled through the paper pile, shaking his head after a moment.

"There is no letter addressed to her parents here," he said. His confusion appeared to grow when Sans sank down onto the couch with a relieved sigh. "Why do you ask?"

"She was writing one yesterday," he mumbled, putting his head in his hands as he steadily remembered how to breathe properly. "If it's not there, that must mean she went home. I was trying to convince her yesterday. Maybe…maybe she finally heard me."

And while it made him uneasy that she felt it necessary to write him a farewell letter, he began to relax. If she'd just gone home to her parents, he'd see her again. He'd make sure of it.

Asgore set the letters down and dug into the pocket of his shorts. He retrieved something familiar—Dr. Crown's business card.

"Let us make sure that is the case," he said, and Sans saw that he was beginning to look hopeful, too. Frisk moved closer, clutching their letter to their heart, and Toriel hastily hung up with whomever she was speaking with, moving forward as well as Asgore punched in the number for Aeris' mother. He pressed a button on his phone, and the dial tone was suddenly louder. They all stared at the phone, waiting…

There was a click, and a brisk voice answered.

"This is Dr. Crown."

"Dr. Crown," Asgore greeted, "this is Asgore Dreemurr. The, er, monster you gave your business card to in the hospital the other day?"

There was a pause.

"Of course." Was Sans imagining the note of sadness in Dr. Crown's voice? "Then…Aeris is…gone?"

The room froze, everyone giving each other looks of surprise and concern. Did Dr. Crown have no idea where Aeris was, either?

"We thought she was with you," Sans finally spoke up when he could no longer take the silence. He heard Dr. Crown's breath catch.

"That voice…who is this?" She demanded to know. Sans cursed under his breath, remembering too late that he had spoken to Dr. Crown when he called her a month ago about Aeris' whereabouts. He supposed he just didn't think she'd remember his voice, but since it concerned her missing daughter…

"My name is Sans. I'm your daughter's boyfriend," he blurted out without thinking. "And yes, it was me that called you a month ago when you were looking for her. I'm sorry I never ended up meeting up with you."

"Sans," Dr. Crown repeated, and something in her tone of voice made Sans wonder if Aeris had told her mother anything about him. "I see."

"Aeris isn't here," he continued, ignoring the blush that crept through his face. "She went missing this morning. We were wondering if you'd heard from her at all."

There was a pause so long that Sans thought Dr. Crown had hung up. Finally, she spoke again, her normally composed voice sounding shaky.

"You mean…you all have no idea where she is…?"

"We are very sorry, Dr. Crown," Toriel spoke up next, worry permeating from her, "we were watching her all day yesterday, and we previously believed she could not move very far on her own. Sans just thought she might be with you, that she might have wanted a cure after all."

"Well she's _not_ here," Dr. Crown snapped, abruptly angry. "She made it very clear at the hospital that she was choosing _you_ over her own parents. I only allowed it because it was what Aeris wanted. And now you're telling me you don't know where she is?!"

"Please, Dr. Crown—" Asgore began, but Dr. Crown talked over him.

"I see now that it was a mistake to trust you. My husband was right. Your kind can't be trusted."

Toriel and Asgore flinched. The injustice made Sans' bones rattle, and he spoke without thinking again.

"Your daughter decided she would rather live with _our_ kind rather than with you. She refused to call us monsters, because she didn't think we fit the description. She told me she knew what real monsters were. So if we're untrustworthy creatures, Dr. Crown, what does that say about you?"

"Sans!" Toriel yelped, her mouth falling open in shock at his audacity. He ignored her, glaring at Asgore's phone. There was another pause, but this one was not as long, and when Dr. Crown spoke again, her tone was chilly.

"Do not call me again. If you do, I will have the police charge you with kidnapping and murdering my daughter."

And she hung up.

Toriel's door burst open for the second time, and Undyne and Alphys were there, Undyne panting, Alphys wheezing.

"We got here…as fast…as we could…" Alphys choked out, slumping down onto the floor to catch her breath.

"Have…have you found her yet…?" Undyne huffed, bracing her hands on her knees and glancing up at Asgore with her good eye. The ex-king shook his head sadly, lowering his phone.

"No. Sans thought she might've gone home to her parents, but…Dr. Crown hasn't seen her."

Undyne and Alphys exchanged worried looks. The tension in the room spiraled, driving Sans crazy. This was ridiculous. Aeris couldn't have gotten far. Even if she did make it to his and Papyrus' place, she could barely walk yesterday. How did they know she wasn't out in the woods somewhere—?

As Asgore handed Undyne and Alphys their letters, the short skeleton gained his feet. Everyone eyed him warily, as if he were a ticking time bomb they expected to go off in two seconds.

"I'm going to look for her," he announced. He expected someone to stop him, and was promptly surprised when Frisk nodded vigorously.

" _I'll go with you,_ " they signed, their face filled with determination.

"I shall go, too," Toriel decided, hastily wiping away tears that were beginning to gather in her eyes.

"Me, too," Asgore volunteered solemnly.

"M-me too!" Alphys agreed, straightening her glasses as she got to her feet. "T-though I can't run anywhere…"

"We'll look together," Undyne promised, her face set. "Hey…where's Papyrus, anyway? Shouldn't he be here, too?"

Sans gave a guilty start as he remembered Papyrus was probably still at home, clueless as to what was going on. Sans had been so panicked when Toriel called, he hadn't even thought to wake his brother.

"I'll go—" he began, but for the third time, someone was at Toriel's door, though this someone was polite enough to knock.

"Toriel, it's me!" Sans heard Papyrus call, and his guilt increased when he heard the concern in his brother's voice. "Have you seen Sans yet today? I tried calling him when I found out he wasn't in his room, but he's not answering—"

Sans moved to the door, waiting until Alphys scrambled out of the way before he opened it. His brother's jaw dropped when he saw him.

"Oh. So you are here! Sheesh, answer your phone next time…" The complaint trailed off into a grumble as Papyrus took in his brother's expression. "What's the matter?"

" _Aeris is missing_ ," Frisk signed from beside Sans. Papyrus' jaw dropped again.

"MISSING?!" He squawked, gaping at all of them. "How can she be missing?!"

"We're about to go look for her," Undyne said, and she marched past Papyrus, grabbing his arm in the process. "Come on!"

"V-very well!" Papyrus stuttered, attempting to strike a pose despite Undyne practically dragging him after her, "I, the GREAT Papyrus, will help you look for Princess! After all, if we all look together, we're sure to find her!"

"We will go into the nearest human town and see if anyone has seen her," Toriel said, and she and Asgore left next.

Sans watched them go. He was suddenly afraid. If Aeris was indeed in the woods somewhere…there was a good chance that she was dead. If one of his friends found her like that, what would they do? If he found her like that…what would he do…?

There was warmth on his hand. Sans looked down, finding a hand grasping his. Frisk was smiling at him, pressing a finger into the corner of their mouth to make it wider. It was a gesture that had no translation, but yet, was always understood between Sans and Frisk:

" _Don't worry. Smile._ "

Slowly, Sans gave Frisk a small grin.

"You're right, kiddo. Worrying won't change anything. If we wanna know for sure, we gotta look."

He stepped out of the house, into the cool frost of the morning. "Let's go."

* * *

Aeris wasn't anywhere.

Asgore and Toriel texted and called Frisk, since Sans had forgotten his cell phone at home. They reported that no one had seen Aeris in person, only through the missing flyers that dotted some shops. And those shops had never laid eyes on Aeris themselves, so it was a bust.

Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys had headed into Monster Town, checking everywhere they thought Aeris might be. Papyrus had even volunteered to go to Grillby's II by himself to check, something he never would have done if the situation weren't so dire. He asked everyone from Heats Flamesman to Grillbz, but no one had seen Aeris.

And Sans' dread was increasing with every tree and thicket they checked in the forest that surrounded their home. Frisk kept shivering in the wind, but they refused to give up, and so they and Sans pushed on, steadily making their way through the mountain paths. The whole time, Sans had a terrible feeling that he knew where Aeris would be, if she was anywhere in the forest. But he put it off, desperately wanting to prove himself wrong as he and Frisk checked every nook and cranny of the forest, even by the river, where Sans had first encountered Aeris. But when they came up empty-handed even there, Sans couldn't hold off any longer. Frisk was freezing, and everyone else was at their wit's end. He couldn't delay forever.

"C'mon, kid. One more spot," Sans said quietly, leading the way as Frisk followed, rubbing their hands together for warmth. "I know a shortcut."

They arrived at the cliff. Sans experienced a staggering clash of emotions when he gazed around, squinting in the light of the sun, and found the cliff empty. There was no Aeris. There wasn't even Aeris' body. There was nothing. Nothing at all.

Something was beginning to build inside Sans. He thrust it to one side, viciously ignoring it as he approached the cliff. His eye sockets scanned the sea below, wondering morbidly if Aeris had decided to jump after all.

None of this made sense. She was just with him, just last night. She had smiled and said that she loved him…why would she vanish so suddenly?

Sans suddenly recognized with a painful twinge that Aeris must've known she wouldn't be here in the morning. She had written all those letters the night before, had maybe even finished his before she came over, intending to spend what he was beginning to realize was her last night here. And she had said _nothing._ Instead, she disappeared to god knows where, expecting him to be okay with a simple letter. Did she really love him at all if she thought he would honestly be all right with this? How could she, who knew him better than anyone, who knew him better than he knew himself, possibly believe that he could be fine with this conclusion?

The pressure building inside him spiked. Still, Sans fought, shoving it back, trying to stuff it away with every other unpleasant feeling that attempted to plague him at one point or another. He didn't need this right now. He couldn't succumb, not here. There was still so much he didn't understand, so much he was unsure of—

A tug to his sleeve distracted Sans. He seized the excuse to not think gratefully, turning to face Frisk. The child's face was concerned, and they began to sign as soon as they had Sans' attention.

" _Sans? That necklace…didn't it belong to Aeris?_ "

Sans whirled around, his gaze going to the place Frisk pointed. There was a small tree nearby, a young sapling that grew a little apart from the other trees. It was the first tree that was beginning to bud in this area, miniscule leaves sprouting from its branches. Sans had never seen it before, but it wasn't important—something silver had claimed his attention.

A silver locket was hanging from one of the lower branches of the tree. Sans stared as he approached it, another painful spike driving into him at the sight of it. It certainly looked like it was Aeris'…but if it was…what was it doing here? His hand shaking, he took the necklace down from the branch. Something—he wasn't sure what, and he was in no place to think about it—told him to open it. And so he did.

There was no picture of Alexei in this locket. Instead, it was a heart-shaped cut-out of a photo Sans didn't recognize, though he was in it. It looked like he and Aeris were in mid-conversation, and judging from the grudging smile Aeris wore, he had just told a pun. He was grinning as usual, but there was something more to his expression when he looked at Aeris. Sans never realized it—he never had a mirror handy for when he was looking at Aeris—but the photo didn't lie. The way he looked at Aeris made him feel like he was looking at the very brightest star in the sky—captivated, awed, and silently wondering how he had gone without seeing this star every single day of his life.

His hands shook harder than ever. There was a tiny folded piece of paper wedged in the other side of the locket, and it took longer than it should have for him to wrestle it out of the locket. He clumsily unfolded it, revealing just four words, written in Aeris' handwriting:

 _In case you forget._

A wet drop fell onto the message, followed by another, followed by more. It wasn't until a cracked sob escaped him that Sans realized he was crying. His legs gave way, refusing to support his weight when he felt so heavy, so damn heavy that standing was a chore. He fell to the ground, his head in his hands, and the pressure that had been building within him came to a sudden and painful explosion. He sobbed, crying out so loudly that nearby birds took flight in fright, his bones rattling so hard he thought they might crack and break. But it didn't matter if they did, didn't matter if fissures would form in his bones, because he was already broken. In fact, it would be fitting if his bones shattered into a million pieces right now, because they would reflect how he felt, bawling in the harsh chill of the morning, his soul feeling as if it might crack in two as well, just like Aeris', a quick break that would be just as painful as hers, if not more.

Sans was so lost in his grief that he couldn't focus on anything else around him. It was only vaguely that he could hear his brother's voice, suddenly an inexplicably there, trying to console him, though he couldn't possibly understand what was wrong, how this felt. And nor should he—Sans wouldn't even wish this pain upon his worst enemy, it was so terrible. He felt himself being picked up and carried, cradled like a child. And still he cried, inconsolable, his hand clenched tightly around the locket, the only piece he had left of Aeris, for now he was sure that she was dead, gone from him forever. There was no way she would have left her locket behind if she was still alive, and the fact that she had left it behind for him, knowing exactly where he'd come to find it—it was clear that she believed she'd never see him again. His voice fractured as he cried, another broken thing to add to the list. Now, he could only weep silently, pressing the tiny representation of Aeris' soul to his sternum, where he could swear he almost felt it beating like her heart.

Time lost meaning. It wasn't until much later, perhaps an eternity, that Sans came back to himself. He was somehow in his room, the sheet spread over him. He wondered if he had been sleeping, if this had all just been a terrible dream that he was just now waking up from…

He sat up as the door creaked open, a tall figure silhouetted by the light from the hall. The light hurt to look at; Sans squinted, shielding his eye sockets with a hand.

"Aeris…?" He asked, his voice nothing more than a Froggit's croak.

The figure hesitated. "…It's me, Brother," it said, and Sans recognized the voice.

"Papyrus," he named the figure, and the tall skeleton entered the room. He watched Sans, love and concern plain on his face. Sans tried to rearrange his expression into a smile so Papyrus wouldn't worry…but it was like he forgot how to.

Papyrus made his way through the room, sitting next to Sans. Neither of them spoke for a moment. Finally, Papyrus took a deep breath, turning to look at his brother.

"Are you…all right?" He asked.

Sans stared at him. All of his old instincts—to grin and assure Papyrus that he was fine, to make a joke about being all left instead, to say anything silly that would wipe the worry from Papyrus' face—had vanished. There was only pain, so many white-hot knives driven into his bones that Sans was surprised he hadn't gone insane yet. He blinked, and tears began to fill his eye sockets.

"No," he admitted, probably for the first time ever to his brother as tears began to slide down his cheekbones. "I'm not all right, Papyrus. I…I…"

Papyrus hugged him. Sans only allowed it because he didn't think he was strong enough to resist. He shivered, his bones rattling as he cried. Papyrus patted his back in a soothing manner.

"There, there," Papyrus urged as Sans gasped for breath, succumbing to his grief once more. "It's all right, Brother. It isn't over. We'll find her."

That made Sans wrench from his brother's grip, guilt overpowered by sudden anger.

"There's nothing to find," he denied, his voice hollow as he stared down at the bed, still shaking. "She's dead, Papyrus."

"Don't say that—"

"It's true," Sans insisted, looking up at his brother and hating the worried look his brother was forced to wear because of him. "Dante told me she didn't have long to live. He said she only had days. Besides, even if we do find her, all we'll find is her body. That's it. It's over. We all knew this day was coming."

"You can't just give up like that, Sans," Papyrus argued, though his tone was still soft. "If we just look a while longer—"

"Papyrus," Sans ground out between his teeth, bowing his skull and clutching his brother's arm. "Please. Stop. _Please._ I can't—I can't talk about this. If I start to believe that—if I start to think it's true, that we'll find her, only to wake up, again and again, knowing that nothing has changed, that she's still gone, I—I'll—!"

"Okay," Papyrus said softly, cutting through Sans' babbling. "Okay, Sans. Okay."

He made to get up, but Sans' fingers tightened around his arm, the rattling of his bones increasing as he gave Papyrus a stranded look.

"Don't go," he pleaded, his voice cracking. "Please, Papyrus. Don't leave me here alone…"

Amazingly, Papyrus managed a smile. Sans wondered if that was a bad habit his brother picked up from him—to smile even when a situation was terrible.

"Of course not, Brother," he said, hugging Sans again. As Sans buried his face into his brother's scarf, he heard Papyrus promise, "I'll never leave you."

Sans couldn't begin to express how grateful he was for that. Because, even though his reaction to the woman he loved dying was bad…he was always at his absolute worst when Papyrus was taken from him. And he didn't need to become a real monster on top of everything else right now.

* * *

Spring had finally arrived. Lush green grass grew all around Mt. Ebott, and the woodland animals dashed through the trees, celebrating the warmth and the return of vegetation. The sun sparkled over the ocean, as if it, too, was rejoicing in the return of the warm weather. Patches of flowers surrounded the cliff, and the young sapling was in full bloom, as if its eagerness couldn't wait for the rest of the trees to catch up.

The view did nothing for Sans, but he still sat here on the edge of the cliff, gazing out on the horizon as if he could see any of it at all.

A month had come and gone, and he still felt the same: empty. He could tell his friends were worried about him, but none of them dared to say so to his face. As per his request, they all stopped searching for Aeris (well, except Papyrus, but he was doing it quietly, and Sans didn't have the heart to insist that he quit.). None of them even mentioned her name in front of him, though there were a couple of close calls and abrupt subject changes because of this. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago that Toriel dared to bring Aeris up in front of Sans.

"I was just thinking…it would be nice to have a…a funeral for Aeris, would it not? It would give us all a chance to…to say goodbye," she had said, looking apprehensive as she spoke. Sans had just looked at her, wondering dully why she was looking at him like that.

"O-of course, if you think it is too soon, we can postpone," Toriel had hurried to assure him when he didn't reply. "I just thought it would be a nice idea—"

"Go ahead," he had allowed at last, looking away from her. "You don't need my permission. Wasn't like I was the only one who cared about Aeris."

"I-I see," Toriel had said, looking a little crestfallen. "W-well, if you are fine with it."

She had almost left him alone after that, but her steps had faltered as she walked away. From his peripheral vision, Sans saw her turn back around, gazing at him.

"It would be nice for you to come as well, Sans," she had told him softly. "I know you may not want to…but I think it might help."

Help? Nothing could help him now. Didn't she know he was beyond help by now?

Sans had turned to her, almost intending to say as much, but Toriel looked so worried that all he could do was sigh and agree to think about it.

The funeral had been today. Toriel and Asgore had taken care of all the details, like where it should be held (Asgore's garden) and who should attend (anyone who knew and loved Aeris). Sans' only contribution was the type of flowers to decorate Aeris' urn with—a prop, as it were. He chose white lilies.

Honestly, if anyone asked Sans now, he wouldn't be able to tell them what had actually happened at the funeral. He was vaguely aware of monsters getting up to talk about Aeris and the memories they had of her, and some of them approached him to express their sorrow for his loss. Dante had even come to pay his respects, which was unexpected and appreciated, but beyond that, the short skeleton was only present in body for the whole thing.

The repast was supposed to be taking place at Toriel's, but Sans had declined the invitation, stating that he needed to go for a walk. Inevitably, he had wandered back here, to the cliff, for the first time since he'd found Aeris' locket on the tree. He clutched at it now, hidden underneath his suit, a constant reminder of what he'd lost. Idly, he wondered if Aeris would've been pleased with all the people that had shown up to her funeral, or if she would've been mortified by all the attention. Mortified, probably—she hated anyone creating a fuss over her, didn't she? And yet, when it was for someone else, she allowed the fuss: getting dolled up for her date with Papyrus, helping with Frisk's birthday party, barging into Sans' room when he had a nightmare, dutifully attending Alphys' Mew Mew Kissy Cutie party after getting over her fever, playing piano for a wedding because Undyne had begged her to…

Her kindness had touched the lives of everyone Sans cared about, and only now was he just realizing how much they had all taken that kindness for granted. God, he missed her.

Footsteps crunched behind him. Sans glanced over to see who it was.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted Frisk, smiling a little as the child came forward, carefully sitting beside him. "What're you doing here?"

" _Looking for you,_ " Frisk signed, frowning a little. " _Papyrus is getting worried._ "

Of course he was. Sans sighed.

"Tell 'em I'll be back soon. I just need another minute."

" _Tell him yourself when you get back,_ " Frisk insisted. Sans laughed a little at that.

"Heh. I won't need to tell him when I get back—I'll already be back."

" _Exactly._ "

"Subtle," Sans complimented, his grin widening by a centimeter. He ruffled Frisk's hair. "All right. I'll tell him when I get back, then."

He half-expected the child to run along back to Toriel's. But they stayed put, swinging their dangling legs. Sans was forcibly reminded of Aeris, and he turned away, clutching at the locket again. It was such a beautiful day. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. Aeris would've loved a day like today. It was terrible that she wasn't around to enjoy it.

Frisk tugged on Sans' sleeve to make him look over at them.

" _I miss her, too,_ " they signed. Sans sighed and nodded.

"I think we all do, kid."

" _Where do you think she is now?_ "

Honestly, Sans didn't know. He believed in Hell, certainly, but was there a Heaven? If there was, it would be a crime for Aeris not to be there. She had been such a wonderful person.

"…At least she's not suffering anymore," he murmured, more to himself than Frisk. That was the only thought that managed to keep him sane—Aeris was dead, but she no longer had to hack her insides up, blood smeared across her hand and mouth. Wherever she was, he was at least confident that she had to be at peace now.

Frisk tugged on his sleeve again, pressing their fingers to the corners of their mouth and stretching them wide. After a moment, Sans obliged. He was out of practice with this whole "smiling" thing, but it seemed to be enough, for Frisk beamed at him.

"C'mon, kid," Sans said, getting to his feet and pulling Frisk up to theirs. "Let's go back so my bro knows I'm okay."

He wasn't okay. Not really. But he would be. Sans would absolutely be okay.

How did he know? Well, Sans was a time-traveler.

He knew everything.

* * *

A/N: ...Guys. As I write this, it is with the knowledge that I have written a story that is over 200 pages in just 15 days. As a person who has struggled all my life with completing anything I write without an RP partner or a deadline, this is HUGE to me. I want to write. For a living, this is what I want to do. And now, knowing that I CAN do it as long as I set my mind to it...there are no words, ironically. I am speechless, impressed with myself, and so very, very grateful that so many of you enjoyed this emotional roller coaster that was my madness taking shape in this fanfiction. Words cannot express how much every single story follow, story favorite, and review meant to me. You guys truly inspired me to tell this story, and it has been my pleasure to write this journey for you, and to go on it with you.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, all the way up to the top, thank you.

~Reyna


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: Hello

**A/N : Ahhh, finally finished the new chapter! Here you go!**

 **...Hm? "Over"? My dear readers, did I write "THE END" when I finished Chapter 21?**

 **No? Then it ain't over. :D**

 **Buckle up, kiddies, we're going for one more ride. Without further ado, here's Catch-22.**

 **...Did I say "catch"? I meant chapter. :D**

 _(you're gonna have a bad time)_

* * *

The first year was hell.

If asked, Sans would report that he didn't remember much of it. Mostly, he just walked around in a haze, vacillating between different states of depression. The most common were numbness…and near-insanity. What Sans repressed during his waking hours, he felt twice as hard in his dreams. Voices taunted him from the shadows, mocking him as they always did when he couldn't save Toriel or Papyrus…now, they had a new plaything to taunt him with. They would hiss her name at him, show flashes of her face, terrified, alone, splashed with blood—

Sans barely slept. And if he did, he couldn't get through the night without having to crawl into bed with Papyrus to stop the shaking.

The second year was better…and worse.

It was better because Sans had gotten through a whole two years without her. But it was worse because the strain was starting to show, and he couldn't go anywhere without people asking him if he was all right. Because of this, Sans often sought the company of Dante, who was easy to be around, because he was concerned mostly with the soccer games of his favorite teams, preferring to leave his work at work. Sans often went with him to his favorite sports bar, and anyone who looked funny at Sans got a full cuss-out from Dante in rapid Spanish. Once or twice, Dante tried to talk about her, but when Sans clammed up, he got the message pretty quickly. Like everyone else, he learned not to mention her name.

The winter of the second year, Sans' limits were tested.

Toriel and Asgore had agreed to move back in together. But Asgore's place was too far from the school they both worked in, so he had to move in with her, which meant her place was too small for the three of them and Asgore's garden. They had to spend a while resizing the house and adding in the garden, so Frisk decided to camp out on the skeleton brothers' couch for a while. Fifteen years old and already nearing Papyrus' height, they took up most of the couch, constantly pushing their hair out of their face as they hit buttons on their Nintendo 3DS in rapid succession. Sans sat on the floor in front of them, staring blankly at the T.V. While he was pretending to watch that, he was really trying to figure out how to ask the question that had been forming in his mind for a few months now. He kept putting it off, because it was unbearably selfish, but with each month that passed, his self-control threatened to break further and further. He had to know, at least, whether or not it was possible…

"…Hey, kid…"

"Hmm?" Frisk hummed. Recently, they'd become a little more comfortable with speaking through their mouth as well. They still preferred to be non-verbal, for the most part, but when their hands were busy, it was just easier to talk. And their hands were really busy at the moment.

Sans fidgeted, wrestling with his guilt and self-loathing. He had to know. He just wanted to know…

"I know I asked ya this after we came to the surface," Sans grumbled, burying himself in his hoodie up to his nasal cavity, as if that would help him hide his shame. "But…I was just wonderin'…"

There was a loud ping from the 3DS. He heard Frisk shuffling behind him, presumably sitting up. He didn't dare look at the kid, but he didn't need to—Frisk chose to speak with their mouth again.

"No, Sans."

Sans closed his eye sockets briefly.

"You don't even know what I'm about to ask," he teased half-heartedly, turning to look at Frisk. Their eyes were sad as they watched him.

"Yes I do," they contradicted. And then, as if they didn't dare speak the words out loud, they began to sign, their hands moving rapidly through the air. " _You're going to ask if I'd consider a reset._ "

Somehow, it was worse to have his intentions signed at him than spoken aloud. Maybe it was because sign language was the most meaningful way of communication to Frisk—the words meant more, so they weighed heavier.

"…Heh," Sans laughed in a hollow voice, shame burning through him. "All right. So you did know. Way to shut me down before I even ask, kid."

" _I couldn't do it even if I wanted to,_ " Frisk told him, looking troubled. " _The power to reset…I lost that a long time ago._ "

That managed to surprise Sans. He didn't know it was a power that could be lost, but as far as he could tell, Frisk wasn't lying to him. So it was impossible after all, then…

Sans felt himself sag against the couch.

"I wasn't going to ask you to really do it," he grumbled. No matter how much he thought about it, no matter how much he might wish there was a way to take all this pain from him…he wouldn't do it. Not to the monsters finally living happily on the surface. Not to Toriel, Alphys, Undyne, Frisk.

Not to Papyrus.

Frisk nodded, as if they suspected as much. They patted the top of Sans' skull, and Sans closed his eye sockets at the contact. He was just so tired of feeling this way that any way out of it sounded good. But even if Frisk could reset everything, it wouldn't solve the problem. Sans would still remember.

He'd still remember every single thing.

The third year, Sans had had enough.

It had been one of those days were he had been feeling a little better, and had begun to hope that things were going to get easier. Enough was enough, wasn't it? He couldn't mourn her forever, could he? After all, he'd only known her for three months. Shouldn't his grieving be done by now?

He was spending the day at Alphys' lab, helping her with a complicated robot schematic she was attempting. It looked like a more efficient robot body for Mettaton, but the color scheme was different…maybe he was going for a new look to impress Papyrus, whom he'd been dating for a few months now. Sans couldn't even work himself up to be annoyed about it—if it made Papyrus happy, who was he to ruin it?

But if the robot hurt his brother…

Sans paused in his welding to wipe the sweat from his forehead. In the sudden silence, he heard music. Piano music.

"…What's that…?" He asked Alphys, who was working at her desk, editing schematics in her chicken scratch.

"What's what?" She asked, distracted. Sans stood up, the welder slipping from his hands and clattering to the floor.

"That music," he said, glancing over at the stereo on Alphys' desk, where it must be coming from. Alphys' hand faltered, and she accidentally dropped her pen.

"O-oh," she said with a gulp. Getting flustered, she jabbed the power button on the stereo, and the music died immediately. "T-that was…was…"

As Sans' stared, Alphys sighed in defeat.

"…It was a CD she made for me and Undyne. Before she…you know…"

Sans now knew why he recognized the melody. It was Punny Bonehead.

"I gotta go," he said, his voice hollow. Alphys could only watch, anxiously shifting from foot to foot, as Sans pulled off the protective welding gear and tossed it to the side.

"Sans—" She tried hesitantly, but he was already out the door. Autumn was in full swing, the trees vibrant colors of red and orange, but they all blurred together as Sans ran, dead leaves crunching under his feet.

That was it. He had had it. He had to do something about this, and he had to do it _now._

Minutes later, he was in the storage unit behind his house in Snowdin. Cobwebs hung heavy in the place, and there were several layers of dust, but he ignored all that, and went straight to the machine under the sheet.

The hole he and Alphys had unwittingly blasted into it the last time he was here looked a lot worse with age. Gritting his teeth, Sans picked up his own welding gear, and he got to work with a feverish determination that bordered on madness. He had thought of this option before, and had even come down here a few times, only to stare at the storage unit before inevitably returning to the surface. He always managed to convince himself that it was impossible, that he'd never get the time machine to work properly ever again. He had always failed in the past, after all—what made now different?

The difference was that Sans was _sick_ of this. He was sick of feeling this way, sick of not being able to sleep because of her, sick of the fact that his friends felt they had to walk on eggshells around him, and he was _so goddamn sick of being in love with a dead woman._ It wasn't fair, and Sans was determined to do something about it here and now, even if it killed him.

Hours later, he was still working, though his eye sockets were heavy and his bones screamed for rest. Everything was going well so far—surprisingly well. Power in the machine was stable, and nothing had blown up yet. The progress only made Sans more frenzied, more determined to finally accomplish what he had failed to do for so many years. If he could actually make this work—if he could finally get the time machine up and running—he could fix _everything._ He could go back, try harder to convince her to go back home, maybe develop a cure faster than her parents ever could and save her life before it ended. And Gaster…his father, his friend, Gaster… _he could save Gaster._ If Sans managed to make this work, there would be nothing he couldn't do.

A sudden chill went through Sans' spine. He ignored it at first, intent on his work, but when it occurred the second time, he became aware of a prickling feeling that told him he was being watched. But…he hadn't heard the door open…so what…?

Sans threw a quick glance over his shoulder, just to put his exhausted mind at ease, for he was certain he was beginning to imagine things due to lack of sleep. His quick glance became a double-take, and then he outright stared.

He wasn't alone in his lab after all. There was a tall, hunched figure towering over him, his long black garb flowing all the way to the floor. His white skull was scarred, disfigured into a sad smile, and there were holes through his bony hands. Though he looked like the stuff nightmares were made of, there was a sorrow about him that permeated the air, weighing the atmosphere down. Sans stared, feeling his breath quicken.

No way…he never saw him like this…never like this…

"…Gaster," he whispered, both awed and terrified. The disfigured non-entity's grin twisted. He said something, using a strange sign language Sans wasn't familiar with. He couldn't ever understand the language in his dreams…but for whatever reason, now, Sans could comprehend perfectly.

" _It HaS bEeN a LoNg tImE, sAnS_."

His voice was so distorted from the way Sans remembered it. The short skeleton shivered, backing into the machine behind him. Gaster bore down on him, still wearing that sad smile that both scared Sans and made pity swell within him. As bad as he felt his life had become, at least he still had his life.

"What…?" he began, still staring up at what had once been the most brilliant scientist he'd ever known. To see him wasted away into this…it was awful.

Gaster nodded solemnly, as if to acknowledge Sans' thoughts. "i HaVe CoMe To WaRn YoU, SaNs."

"Warn me…?"

"YoU aRe MaKiNg A mIsTaKe, My SoN. i Do NoT wIsH tO sEe YoU pUnIsHeD…lIkE i WaS…"

Gaster raised his hands for emphasis. The large holes through them chilled Sans to the bone.

"It's different," Sans insisted, remaining driven despite the foreboding atmosphere. "I have to do this. I have to go back. It'll work this time. It has to."

"yOuR gRiEf Is BlInDiNg YoU, sAnS."

"This is the first time I've thought so clearly," Sans contradicted him, turning his back on the shadow of a skeleton he'd once called "father". "Besides, I haven't slept in days. For all I know, you could just be a figment of my imagination right now. I just…I have to do this, Gaster. Even if it all goes wrong, I still have to try."

Sans braced a hand against the machine that he'd finally gotten to function, his answer to everything right in his grasp. All he needed was one final tweak, one more adjustment…and he could change the world.

He could still feel Gaster there, watching him. Sans took a deep breath, closing his eye sockets. No matter how long it had been, her face always showed up, clear as day: eyes alight with speculation, lips curving into a slight smile. Even beyond the grave, she tormented him. Who could live like that?

"Anything has to be better than this," he muttered, more to himself than what might just be his insanity personified, "anything."

"…aNyThInG…?"

Abruptly, the machine began to overload. Startled, Sans jumped back, alarms flashing, sirens blaring. He regained himself and tried to rush forward, to fix whatever was wrong, but suddenly Gaster was there, blocking his path. His smile was still in place, but now there was pity in his gaze, as if Sans was the one who was in the worst situation out of the two of them.

"So Be It," Gaster whispered, and for a moment, just for a moment, Sans saw the skeleton Gaster used to be, gazing down at him with fatherly concern just before his image began to shimmer. "GoOdByE, sAnS…"

Before Sans could say anything else, before he could call out to Gaster or run forward to correct whatever mistake had occurred, everything just…stopped. For one second, there was nothing but silence.

And then the machine exploded.

Sans was thrown back into oblivion, awash in a torrent of color and sound. He was unconscious before his bones hit the ground.

What felt like just a few seconds later, someone was shaking him.

"Sans?! SANS!" The shaking increased when he didn't respond right away. "Brother, wake up! Please, wake up!"

"Mngh," Sans grumbled, reaching up weakly, his eye sockets still shut. "Hey…ease up bro…my head's throbbing right now…"

"SANS!" His bones clattered against another set of bones, and he felt his brother shaking and crying with relief. "YOU SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Ow," Sans protested, and he blinked his eye sockets open.

The storage unit behind their home in Snowdin was in flames. Sans stared at the chaos, uncomprehending. What had happened? What was he doing here? And why was everything on fire?

"Whoa," was all he could say after a confused moment. He looked up at Papyrus, who was still weeping tears of relief. "Did…did I do that…?"

Papyrus stared down at him in disbelief. "You don't remember?"

"Heh…now that ya mention it…things are kinda fuzzy…" Sans mumbled, scratching the back of his skull. He stared at the flaming storage unit, and a horrible feeling began to creep into him. "Pap…are we…still living here…?"

Papyrus' expression became full of alarm. "What are you talking about, Brother? We moved to the surface six years ago!"

Ah. So it wasn't a reset. That was good. Still…it was a little disconcerting that he couldn't remember why he was here. He usually remembered everything, whether he wanted to or not, and yet…

"…Did you say six years, bro?"

"Yes. Why?"

Sans scratched his skull again. "Huh. Weird. I could've sworn it was only three…"

Papyrus looked _really_ worried now.

"You just need some rest," he asserted, pulling Sans up to his feet. "Let's go. You're going to bed as soon as we get home. No excuses!"

"Okay, but…shouldn't we put out the fire first…?"

"Oh. Right."

They gathered all the snow they could and began to dump it onto the fire. It hissed in displeasure, smoke furling wherever the snow melted. Sans felt a twinge of regret as he gazed at the ruined storage unit. Whatever chance he had of fixing the time machine was now gone…but he supposed it was just as well. He'd never gotten the damn thing to work, no matter how hard he tried, so it wasn't like he was losing anything. After all, he didn't want to end up like Gaster, did he?

As Sans went to sluggishly pick up another pile of snow (Papyrus was a lot faster than him, due to not being so lazy and not just being exploded), something fell from the inside of his turtleneck. At first, Sans thought it was just another piece of metal—his hoodie and turtleneck were lousy with the stuff at the moment. But when he bent down to take a closer look, he noticed that it wasn't just a bit of metal. It was a necklace, silver with a small heart at the end. Sans stared at it.

Weird. He'd never been one to wear jewelry before. Where had that come from?

He picked it up, raising the necklace to his face to get a better look. There were no defining features about it, save for a tiny dent that had formed in the center of it. There were hinges on the side, which made Sans think that it was a locket instead of just a necklace, but either by design or by flaw, he couldn't get it to open.

Welp. This thing was officially rendered useless. And there was no use carrying around an un-openable locket, was there?

Sans let it dangle by the chain, where the clasp had been broken, intending to drop it back into the snow. He had sure done a number on it, hadn't he? He felt a little bad about that, though he wasn't really sure why…maybe it was guilt over wrecking such a delicate thing?

"SANS!" Papyrus suddenly called, making the short skeleton jump. "This is _your_ mess, you know! Now get over here and help me fix it!"

Sans hurriedly stuffed the broken locket into his pocket. "Comin', bro."

* * *

Papyrus stood over Sans as he got ready for bed, apparently intending to make sure he did as he was told. Thankfully, despite his low health, Sans appeared to be fine…well, other than his apparent memory loss, anyway. He tugged his shredded turtleneck and hoodie off of himself, kicked off his slippers, and allowed Papyrus to tuck him into bed, though he declined the bedtime story. He just made a pun about horses and hay that made Papyrus groan, though the relief under his irritation was obvious, which meant mission accomplished for Sans. He must have been more tired than he thought, though, because as soon as his skull hit the pillow, he was out.

Hours later, Sans awoke, groggy. He sat up and rubbed at his eye sockets, grumbling under his breath. The clock on his bedside table told him it was about six in the morning. Odd…he had gone to bed a little after midnight. What was he doing up so early?

Sans almost flopped back down to go back to sleep, but for some reason, he couldn't get comfortable. Had his bed always been this big? It felt like way too much room to Sans.

Sighing, the short skeleton gave up on sleep for the moment, and decided to go downstairs. If Papyrus had gone grocery shopping, there was probably a full ketchup bottle he could snag from the fridge while he channel-surfed. But if it was Sans' turn…well, the channel surfing could still be a thing, at least.

Just as his hand reached the door knob, Sans paused. He heard voices coming from the living room. Frowning a little, the short skeleton eased the door open, making sure not to make a peep, and peered out with one eye socket.

Toriel, Frisk, Alphys and Undyne were sitting on the couch. Sans gaped at Frisk for a moment—when had the kid gotten so tall?—before he began to wonder what was going on. What were the four of them doing in his and Papyrus' house so early?

And then Sans spotted his brother, pacing anxiously in front of the group. The sight made Sans hurt, and he almost stepped out to assure his brother that he was fine (even though he was supposed to be sleeping), but the sound of his own name made him pause.

"So…Sans does not remember _anything?_ " Toriel asked, sounding appalled. "Anything at all of the past three years?"

"I don't think so," Papyrus replied with a sigh. "At first, I thought it was one of his pranks, but…when we were walking home, he acted… _normal._ Like the last three years had never happened."

"So he thinks it's three years ago?" Frisk asked, to Sans' extreme shock. It wasn't like the kid couldn't speak, of course—Sans was just used to them being nonverbal. Then, was it true? Were the last three years of his life…really missing from his memory? How was that even possible?

"I guess? I mean, I told him it's actually been six years since we've come to the surface…but I'm not sure if he believed me."

Papyrus rubbed the back of his skull. "Honestly, I'm not sure if I should try to jog his memory or not."

It was quiet for a moment.

"So he's forgotten, like, everything?" Undyne wanted to check?

"E-even—?" Alphys began, but she gulped, as if she dared not to finish the sentence. Papyrus shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm afraid to even say her name at this point. I don't know if it would bring his memory back or not, but if it does…" Abruptly, Papyrus clutched at his skull. "NYEH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

"Papyrus, shh!" Toriel urged him with a nervous glance up the stairs. Sans drew back slightly, but it was unnecessary—Toriel's gaze never traveled to his door. Instead, she stood up, and made Papyrus sit down in her place, patting his shoulder in a soothing manner. "It is all right. We will figure something out."

"I don't know which is worse!" Papyrus cried, looking desperately around him, as if someone else held the answer. "Sans is missing part of his memory, which his bad! But he's happy now, which is good, but in a bad sort of way! It's been so long since I've seen him smile…I don't want to take that from him! But how can I let him walk around grinning like that when he's missing a piece of himself? How can I let him think everything's okay when he's forgotten all about Princess? And how can I let him remember her when she's the reason he was hurt so badly in the first place? What should I do?!"

No one had a ready answer for him, despite the glances exchanged between them. The silence seemed to stretch on for eons, seeping into every room in the house. Sans stood there, frozen, listening, waiting…

Frisk spoke. The sound of their voice was so strange-yet-familiar, and Sans really didn't know how to feel about the fact that he couldn't remember Frisk saying their first words in such a long time. "Why don't we wait and see what happens? Isn't there a chance his memory will come back on its own?"

"It's possible…" Alphys agreed, though she looked doubtful. "I'm not sure how hard he hit his head to lose three years of his life in the first place, but…"

"It's honestly a miracle he didn't die," Undyne reflected grimly. "He only has one HP…"

"Maybe it would be best to consult Dante," Toriel pointed out. "This is his area of expertise, is it not?"

Dante. A face flashed before Sans' eye sockets—a human male in his mid-twenties, comprised of several shades of brown, and a grin that managed to be friendly and a little bit cheeky all at once. Sans knew that this human was…his friend. But as to how that happened? Sans didn't have a clue.

How the hell was that possible?

Papyrus sighed, rubbing his face. The slump of his shoulders made Sans believe that his brother hadn't gotten any sleep last night. That thought made him feel horribly guilty.

"You're right," he said as he stood up. "There's only so much we can do right now. I'll try calling him later. Sorry for bringing you all over here so early…"

As their friends assured Papyrus that it was no trouble at all, Sans quietly closed his door. He moved to sit down on his bed, staring at his window, the inky sky outside his window beginning to soften into a lighter blue. Dawn was coming.

Sans watched the sky lighten, thinking to himself. It was clear that Papyrus was conflicted about this turn of events—apparently, Sans hadn't been very happy for the past three years, so to see him smile now was a relief. And whatever had happened to make him miserable all that time, if he was surmising the conversation correctly, was because of a "her"—Papyrus called her "Princess". Evidently, Sans had forgotten her, too, and his friends were worried about that on so many levels.

But really, how important could she have been to Sans if he didn't remember her? And why would he _want_ to remember her if she had caused him so much pain in the past?

' _Sounds like a_ _ **royal**_ _pain to me,_ ' Sans joked to himself, chuckling under his breath. Ah, he still had it. That was a comforting thing in the midst of this madness, at least.

In all seriousness, though, he personally didn't mind his missing memory. It was disconcerting, sure, but it wasn't like his friends couldn't catch him up on what he'd clearly missed in the last three years. And if they were worried about his missing memory over this "princess" person…well, as far as Sans was concerned, those memories could stay gone.

If she had caused him to lose his grin for three years, Sans didn't see any point in remembering her at all.

* * *

Winter came suddenly that year. Or maybe it just felt like that to Sans because, last that he recalled, it had just become fall. It felt like only yesterday the leaves were just beginning to change, but now, the trees were barren, the wind was cold, and snow fell from the sky in blankets.

It was peaceful, and yet, a little more nostalgic than usual. Sans tried not to pay it much mind—he often felt emotions that were out of place with the rest of his thoughts, as if his bones knew something he didn't. Dante wasn't sure what to make of it, but he had a theory that Sans' memories weren't actually gone, just repressed, and that was why Sans often felt the way he did without much explanation.

Dante turned out to be a pretty cool guy. Sans didn't remember him, exactly, but his bones seemed to know him, and the warm greeting he gave the guy was effortless. How surprising, since Sans didn't particularly care for humans, save for about two exceptions—

Sans frowned to himself, pausing in his trek through the snow. Two? No, that wasn't right. One. One exception: Frisk. Why had he thought…oh. Maybe he was subconsciously counting Dante now…? Hmm. That didn't sound quite right…

Sans shrugged, brushing off the confusion. It happened so often, shrugging it off was all he could do in response to it. His friends followed his example, though he could tell they were still low-key concerned about him, even if they tried to act normal for his sake. This season seemed to be taking a toll on them, though—everyone became a little gloomy, even Papyrus. Sans cracked his jokes as usual, trying to cheer everyone up, but again, they only smiled for his sake, and wouldn't explain properly what the problem was. It was really beginning to grate on Sans: he didn't understand their sudden melancholy, and it made him uncomfortable, as if he was being left out of something very important.

The wind blew fiercely. Instinctively, Sans zipped his new blue hoodie up higher before he remembered that Frisk wasn't bundled inside his jacket at the moment. Indeed, Frisk was now too tall to be bundled in anyone else's jacket but their own. Sans sighed at that, unzipping his zipper to reveal more of the new black shirt he wore, which, amusingly enough, had a printed picture of a skeleton's ribcage on the front, accompanied by a printed spine on the back. Though the shirt kind of created the illusion that Sans was bare-boned all the time, he loved it because it had been Frisk's early birthday present to him, bought with money from their part-time job. And while it made Sans happy to have it, it also caused an ache inside him, like a father who had watched his child grow up entirely too fast.

He sighed again and resumed his walk. Speaking of Frisk, they, him, and Papyrus were supposed to be having a movie night tonight, while Toriel and Asgore had one of their date nights. Toriel and Asgore, remarried…it was a concept Sans was still trying to wrap his mind around, though apparently, he had attended the small ceremony a year ago. Well, as long as Asgore made Tori happy and didn't screw up again…

Sans paused. He glanced around him, an odd sensation in his bones. Why did this…feel familiar? There was nothing but trees and snow here. So why…?

The skeleton looked down. His footprints were not the only set out here, to his surprise. There was another pair leading away from him, accompanied by something red in the snow. Frowning, Sans leaned over, picking up the red thing. It was velvety between his fingers, and also impossible.

What was a red rose petal doing out here?

Sans straightened up, glancing into the distance. There was another one…and another…and another… Someone was making a trail, apparently. A pretty ostentatious one, in fact—what happened to the subtlety of breadcrumbs? Man, Hansel and Gretel really changed.

Chuckling to himself, Sans decided to follow the petals on a whim. Whoever was leaving them clearly didn't want to get lost out here, but considering how easily a few of them could be blown away by the wind, he rather felt whoever it was was fighting a losing battle. He'd just pop by, see if the petal dropper needed help, point them on their way out of the forest, and that would be his good deed for the day.

As he followed the trail like he was on some bizarre scavenger hunt, Sans realized he knew the route. Many times in the past couple of weeks, he had found himself on this cliff during his wanderings, usually by accident. It was a good view of the stars and the sea below, and Sans often found himself sitting out there for hours before he remembered whatever it was he was supposed to be doing. It was a little strange, the hold this one place had on him…almost like he was waiting for something…

Sans stopped.

There was someone on the cliff—a human. They were tall, with short dark hair that looked impossibly tangled, and stood with their back to them—apparently, they hadn't heard him approach. A long white coat adorned the figure, falling all the way to the tops of black boots. As Sans watched, a pale hand reached up into the hair, where Sans could see a bunch of roses somehow woven into it. He was impressed that the roses stayed present at all, with the way that hair threatened to swallow them whole. Despite his thoughts, however, the pale hand plucked a rose bud quite easily from the hair. Intrigued, he watched as the human did something with the rose bud, dropping the stem to the ground a moment later. They raised their hand, full of rose petals, and tossed them into the air. As if she knew—Sans wasn't sure why, but the thought abruptly occurred to him that it must be a woman—that the wind was about to pick up, it suddenly did, catching the rose petals and making them dance around her, as if this was a secret game she and the wind often played.

Sans had no idea why, but the scene before him—the dancing rose petals, the dark hair, the skin that was so pale that it nearly blended in with the jacket the human wore—made him think about a fairytale Papyrus had told him recently. A fairytale about a princess with fair skin and dark, wild hair…

Snow White.

"Hey."

The human jumped, yelping a little. Sans tried not to snicker out loud as she whirled around to face him—

His snickering stopped abruptly. The human had the brightest pair of eyes he had ever seen. It was like they were made of moonlight, the way they glinted at him. They were impossibly wide in her round face, her lips parted in surprise. Pink began to flood her face, bringing Sans' attention to her cheekbones, which were rather strong-looking, despite how much skin was covering over them.

Sans didn't know this human. He had no recollection of her whatsoever.

He was, therefore, very surprised to find that her name slipped through his teeth effortlessly.

"Aeris."

It was like a magic password. The woman's face split into a smile, her eyes warming, melting Sans' bones just like that. As he struggled with this sudden, irrational reaction, she spoke.

"Hello, Sans."

Sans stared at her. So, she knew his name, too…

And suddenly, Sans understood. This, clearly, had to be "Princess".

A crooked grin hitched itself onto his skull.

"Heh. It's kind of awkward to say "nice to meet you" since we already know each other's names, isn't it?" He said, scratching the back of his skull.

The smile began to fade from her lips. "…What?"

Sans gave a shrug. "Oh well. Never hurts to start over, does it?" He held out a hand, grin firmly in place, despite the roiling emotions welling up within him. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. And you are…?"

Shock froze Aeris' face in place. The winter wind blew around them, scattering snow and rose petals into the inky night sky.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N: There you go. "The End". ...NOW you can scream at me. :D *Runs away cackling***

 **~Reyna**


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